Silver Dollar City Festivals 2010: Bluegrass & BBQ

Sweet sounds and sweet sauce will prevail during Bluegrass & BBQ at Silver Dollar City, May 13 through May 31. The top names in bluegrass will perform while experts cook up the ribs and burnt ends. The House of BBQ will serve Memphis dry rubs, sweet and tangy Carolina vinegars, smoky Texas-style and Kansas City-style barbeque that will make your nose twitch and your mouth water.

Silver Dollar City has earned its reputation as one of the nation’s premier amusement parks with events such as Bluegrass & BBQ. Located in Branson, Missouri, within walking distance of the well-known Lodges at Table Rock, Silver Dollar City offers a 1800s-themed environment complete with arts, crafts, cooking lessons, period displays, rides and much more. Bluegrass & BBQ is only one of a number of extended events held throughout the year.

For 19 days, Bluegrass & BBQ will serve up electrifying performances by rising stars and veteran favorites in bluegrass music. They come from all over the country to the place bluegrass belongs, the Ozark Mountains.

Some of the acts you can expect to see and hear include:

Nothin’ Fancy-Formed in 1994 to compete in the East Coast Bluegrass Championship in Crimora, Virginia, Nothin’ Fancy has since released eight albums and one CD single. The group has played the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee; Lincoln Center in New York; and the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. The band has also hosted its own festival in Buena Vista, Virginia, and won The SPBGMA Entertaining Group of the Year award in 2008 and 2009.

Red Head Express-This group has it all — a variety of musical styles, dancing, comedy, you name it. And they all get along, even though they’re family: Mom, Dad, four daughters and three sons. They’ve played throughout the Midwest and South in performing arts centers, at festivals and in theaters and opry houses, and they’ve had two seasons playing in Branson.

Hunt Family Bluegrass-Born in Orlando, Oklahoma, in 2004, Hunt Family Bluegrass has become known for its hard-driving style. The family includes Terry, the dad, who plays guitar; Leanne, the mom, who plays bass; 17-year-old Andrew on mandolin and fiddle; and 15-year-old Jonathan, who plays banjo.

In all, about 40 bluegrass bands will perform during Bluegrass & BBQ, and the barbeque will be available the whole time. Whatever your taste in music or food, this event is sure to satisfy.

While you’re in Branson and visiting Silver Dollar City, you should consider staying at The Lodges At Table Rock. Among lodges in Branson, it has a reputation for family-friendly excellence. Many people think of it as the Silver Dollar City lodge because it’s so close to the park, or the Table Rock lodge because of its proximity to Table Rock Lake. It’s also one of the most popular Branson lodges for people who are visiting the area to enjoy the lakes and Branson attractions other than Silver Dollar City.

So, when you’re looking for lodging near Silver Dollar City, be sure to visit www.LodgesAtTableRock.com where you can learn more and make your Table Rock Lodge reservations. You’ll enjoy the convenience as you take in Bluegrass & BBQ.

Say Good Night Gracie

Tonight season one of Pitmasters rides off into the sunset. I find myself running after it and calling its name like Brandon De Wilde chasing after Alan Ladd. "Shane" didn't come back but hopefully TLC will heed the calls and "BBQ Pitmasters" will return for a second season.

This series was eagerly anticipated by the barbecue world. Sure the Travel Channel or Food Network would occasionally throw us barbecue cooks a bone but I was always left with wanting more - enter Pitmasters. What the competitive barbecue world received was not only a show for us but also a show to help enlighten non-Q'ers on what competing is all about. Like a zombie drawn to a mall, I was drawn to the show.

From my experience, the show has opened up the barbecue competition world to more people. I have talked to many people who have no real interest in barbecue but have watched the show and enjoyed what they saw. In fact, the question I have to answer most is regarding Myron and "What's he really like?" It's good to see the interest generated about barbecue.

I will not be surprised if we see a second season of Pitmasters. If TLC wants no part of it, I am sure some other network would. The show has clearly marked out its territory on the reality show map. It will be interesting to see the impact the show will have on the competitive trail this season. Will there be an increase in rookie teams? More contests? More barbecue groupies? I can't wait for our competition season to start so I can find out. In the meantime, I'll head back to the farm and see if Shane shows up!

Happy Trails!

Looking Ahead

First, I wanted to thank Greg Rempe for having me on his BBQ Central Radio Show last Tuesday (1/19). We discussed our teams' experience with being on "BBQ Pitmasters," our teams' background and feelings about Myron Mixon . I enjoyed giving the amateur team perspective on things. Thanks again Greg!

All the snow has melted in the Kansas City area. It has taken a month to get rid of it but it's gone! Hopefully for good! Temperatures have rebounded from highs around 0 degrees to what feels like tropical highs in the 30's! The warm-up in the weather really gets the competition juices flowing.

Darrin, Brant and myself met at Darrin's house to have our preseason game plan discussion last weekend (Corey was busy cooking and couldn't attend. We'll forgive him as it was bbq related.) This is a good strategy session for us as we can lay out our competition schedule for 2010, address any cooking related issues or adjustments we want to make, discuss marketing/sponsorship items and hash out any issues from the previous year.

Contest selection is what drives the bus for us and it is important that we choose wisely. We decided to kick off the cook season with the Smoke on the Water contest in Little Rock, AR. The total prize package is a staggering $100k and they are paying out 1st through 40th place in each category. It is a great opportunity to compete with many of the top teams from across the country early on in the BBQ season and to capitalize on our success at the American Royal. This will be the first time that we step out of the Kansas City area to compete.

In addition to Little Rock, we are looking at the Springfield, MO contest in mid April, Great American in May and the American Royal in October. We will also look at adding an additional 2 to 4 contests dispersed across late April through September. I'm really looking forward to the 2010 season. Hurry up and get here March!

Darrin also is organizing a practice cook at his house in February. After I attended the JOS cook school this past November, we decided that we need to incorporate the brisket and pork butt techniques into our cook process. This will give everyone a chance to work through these techniques together after having practiced them separately. Also another area we will explore will be our rib process. We've been happy with our ribs but want to give the JOS process a try as well. It is nice to know that we have 2 solid rib techniques to utilize. For now, the chicken process will remain the same but I feel we can make 2 minor changes and still attain the same solid finished product.

I'm ready to cook!

Pitmasters Episode 5 - Attack of Holla-N-Swalla

Well, where to begin? We had no idea what to expect other than we were to appear on the show. There was a lot of video shot Saturday night into Sunday. The show's producers did a great job getting what was shot condensed down into a nice concise program.

To be honest, when the episode started I was a little nervous where it might go. Would we be portrayed as "partiers," clueless cooks or something out of leftfield? As the show progressed, I was very relieved as they worked the amateurs getting help from the pro angle.

When we were initially approached on that Saturday of the Royal by John Markus, he said they were looking for an amateur team that one of the Pitmasters (Myron) could mentor. Myron had put in a good word for us and John asked if we would like to participate. We would have access to Myron to ask questions and see behind the wizard's curtain during the morning of the open. Who could say no to something like that?

As Sunday morning unfolded, Brant, Darrin, Corey and myself tried to take advantage of going over to Myron's tent to ask questions and to see some of his processes. Brant and I talked to Myron about chicken and we mentioned to him that we had some legs to cook with our thighs. We normally cook thighs and 6 to 10 legs at a contest. If we have room in our box, we try to get at least 2 legs in there as well. Myron said if we had legs to make sure we get them in the box as the judges like a "handle" to hold onto while they eat. Fortunately, we were able to get 6 thighs and 2 legs into our blind box at the Royal. We hit the right judging table and the rest is history.

The Myron Mixon you see in this episode is the real Myron I know. He is helpful, friendly and gracious. Is Myron cocky and self assured in what he does? Hell yes! He's a champion and has earned that right. I think some folks may be reading a little too much into the persona they see on the show. If you meet him and talk to him, you will come away feeling positive about him. I hope that we get the opportunity to cook next to Myron and his wife Faye again.

All four of us really enjoyed the episode. A big "Thank You" to the "Pitmasters" producers for letting us appear and to Myron for his kind words about our team. We had a great time and would love to do it again!

We can't wait to get the 2010 season going!

Pitmasters Tonight

Tonight's the night to see if we made the cut. Not sure what to expect?

BBQ Pitmasters

On December 3rd, the "BBQ Pitmasters" show kicked off on the TLC network. This reality based show follows designated BBQ competition teams as they participate in various sanctioned contests across the country.

I have watched the first 2 episodes of the show and have enjoyed it. I know that on various BBQ forums there has been a great deal of support for the show but also some concern as well. Like BBQ itself, everyone has a different flavor preference.

I think the BBQ world is very lucky to have an advocate like John Markus who can help promote our sport. He is providing a window into the competition world that many would never look through. I look for the show to bring more people into the competitive BBQ field. In fact, I was hooked several years ago by that first competitve BBQ show that Chris Lilly hosted on OLN.

I have also taken particular delight in watching Myron Mixon tease the audience with some of his techniques (especially the cupcake chicken.) Having recently attended his cook school at his house, it's been fun to see all the cooks on the forums trying to backwards engineer his chicken process as if they were some sort of Cold War era Soviet scientist.

The show conveys that BBQ is something everyone can do but not everyone can win. Working through your processes, techniques and flavor profiles to come up with a winning combination is difficult. Then couple that with the subjectivity of the judges, well, things get interesting and that means anything can or will happen at a contest. This is a lesson that Pablo Diablo found out in the first episode.

L.C.'s BBQ

I ventured out today into the cold today to meet some friends for lunch. My friend suggested L.C.'s BBQ at 5800 Blue Parkway in Kansas City, MO (it's just a couple of miles west of the Truman Sports Complex). I had heard a lot about L.C.'s but never had made the trip over until today.

Luckily, arriving at 1:15pm meant that the lunch crowd had cleared out and there was plenty of seats to choose from. The place is not very big so I can see where seating could become a premium during the busy lunch hour.

The order process here varied slightly from any other local BBQ joint. You place your order and pay at the counter. When your order is ready they call your number and you pick it back up at the counter.

The menu offered beef, pork, turkey, ribs, chicken, rib tips and burnt ends. Sides include baked beans, fries, slaw and onion rings. I ordered the 2 meat combo sandwich (beef and turkey) which came with fries. I also ordered a side of baked beans and a drink. The total was $16.43.

I sat down at a table and gave the place a quick glance. There was ESPN on the TV in one corner, a self serve soda fountain in the other and Mr. L.C. was sitting at a table pouring through paperwork while conversing with patrons. At the center of my table, there were a couple of rolls of paper towels, a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of L.C.'s BBQ sauce.

The wait for my meal was short. Probably about 4 minutes in all. The sandwich was served on white bread with a slice in the middle to seperate the turkey from the beef. The meat was served sauced which I was not aware of. Had I known, I would have asked for it plain so I could sample the meats on their own merit.

I enjoy turkey and it's hit or miss on whether the local joints carry it. I found the turkey today to be very tasty and had a good smoke flavor. The brisket mirrored the turkey and had a good smoke flavor as well. It was sliced thin which definitely helps make it that much more tender.

As for the sides, the fries were thick cut and very tasty. Just the right amount with the sandwich. The beans were thick with a touch of a sweet/smokey bold flavor and contained pieces of burnt ends. It was a good choice.

The barbecue sauce is tomato based and has a sweet, tangy flavor. It has a similar flavor profile to Gate's sauce but without the peppery taste. It complimented the meat well and was also great for dipping fries into!

I enjoyed my meal today. The portions are large and I was not able to finish my order of beans. You will not go away hungry here! I need to make sure I come hungry on my next visit.