NRA Hot Chef Grilling Challenge on YouTube

I could not resist entering this grilling challenge! Produce a 2 minute video and incorporate hot trends in restaurant fare as reported in the 2009 research from the other NRA- the National Restaurant Association. I focused on #2 top trend (#1 was local organic) which was bite size mini desserts. Winners get a trip to Chicago to attend the National Restaurant Show and do a demo on the main stage. Nice prize, nice contest.

Our raspberry chocolate yummy is a tasty dessert for the table but sticking to bite size pieces will be more difficult. To round out the video we grilled ravioli for appetizer- again a hot trend of appetizers for the table and salmon and asparagus for the main course. We grill appetizers often, it gets everybody noshing and cocktail hour gets a bit of an extension. This recipe fits into our Grill More, Eat Less mantra as long as you stick with the bite-size dessert trend!



Here is a link to all the entries and you can rate my video there but not from inside this blog. I used GrillGrates as the contest also called for new techniques, but I did not to make it a GrillGrate commercial-in fact I never even mentioned them- I was focused on the food! Win, lose or draw it was fun to enter, and I continue to be amazed at the power of YouTube and all this social media stuff!

Grilling and Gardening

What a nice weekend! On Saturday I grilled at Kilian Hardware, (est. 1913) on Germantown Ave. in Philadelphia. This was a real Americana Main Street day. It was the first 70 degree sunny day in Philadelphia this spring so we caught it just right. I had some great help from Auntie Nels as she assisted me in grilling pizza (with MamaMary's Gourmet Pizza Crusts) quesadillas, and ravioili. The grilled ravioli is always a show stopper and Nellie directed me to Tallutto's fresh home-made ravioli- which were superb.

The gang at Kilian have been serving the community for several generations, and I enjoyed meeting and working with them and their customers. We introduced GrillGrates to a lot of foks and sold several GrillGrate Gift Kits. Kilian sold a couple of Weber Performers and the 2008 leftover grill that I was grilling on. That lucky couple got my well broken in set of GrillGrates too. I got home late Saturday night to Atlanta expecting storms. The storms never materialized so Sunday morning I hit the yard to mow the lawn and edge the beds. Grilling on Main Street USA on Saturday and Gardening on Main Street on Sunday, life is good.

NBBQA Members & Friends get 15% Discount on GrillGrates

I complied a tidy folder of all the business cards we gathered and people we met at the NBBQA conference in Austin. I left it on an airplane in Philadelphia and have been unable to reach out to this esteemed group! Many of you bought GrillGrate Kits at the conference and I hate that we have lost track of you. Several of you also wanted to be alerted when our commercial grade GrillGrates would be available. When I got this month’s edition of the Barbecue News- it was great to see pictures and names which sparked me into action. I called Kell to run an advertisement and figured I’d Twitter about the discount too.

Please let me know how you are doing: post a comment here on my blog, send pictures, or a TWEET or jump into testing the professional grade GrillGrates. And remember use NBBQA as coupon for 15% discount on any and all orders at the GrillGrate webstore! GrillGrate, Eat Well.

NBBQA Members Join the GrillGrate Restaurant Trial- limited quantity available

Two weeks ago we made the trek to Murphysboro IL to visit with Mike Mills, Amy Mills, Becky Streuter and their staff. 17th Street Barbecue was named The Best Ribs in the USA by Bon Appetit Magazine and we just had to see and taste for ourselves! AND Mike has been using GrillGrates in his kitchen since we met last October. We finally produced the custom 20” lengths he wanted for his char-broilers and flat tops.

We did not want to simply ship these new commercial grade GrillGrates to Mike and Becky. It was all we needed to say—road-trip! Spending a half a day in the kitchen with Mike working with GrillGrates will be a highlight for Susan and me for a long time. We also visited one of the 17th Street locations in nearby Marion, IL to meet with their kitchen staff that had already been working with GrillGrates; and then back to Murphysboro for a family style dinner at the original 17th Street location. Full racks for both Susan and me ended a really great day. The southern Illinois area is a nice place to visit with a thriving wine for the industry along with scenic countryside and small towns. We’ll be back September 24-26 Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off, if not before!

Join 17th Street and other restaurants who are evaluating GrillGrates for their flat-tops and char-broilers. We have a limited supply of 20” GrillGrates at discounted pricing for you to use in your restaurant. The width is 5.25”. Four Interlocking Professional GrillGrates create a 20" x 21" grilling surface. Please contact me directly for pricing and immediate shipping. NBBQA members enjoy a 15% discount on all GrillGrate products, use NBBQA in coupon area of the GrillGrate web store.

Getting By with A Lotta Help From My Friends

I was in high school when Sgt. Pepper came out and remember gathering after school with friends to listen to it for the first time. Lately "A little help from my friends" has been the theme of my life. Last weekend we filmed and grilled with GrillGrates starting at 10:00AM and we finished around 8:00PM after a nice cocktail hour to wind down a long day. We had three grills going at a friend's house and folks were in and out all day helping prepare food to be grilled, filmed, and enjoyed. Also this week we packed out a truckload of product with another great group of friends. Getting by with a little help from your friends- truly a blessing. I'm thankful and grateful for friends. Happy Easter!

Grate Grilled Desserts

While we were in Austin we visited Susan's Texas cousins and family. Laura saw us grilling qeusadillas at the NBBQA conference and got inspired with a great recipe that we dubbed Laura's Austin Quesadilla. She put pear slices and goat cheese in between the tortillas and got us thinking grilled desserts and we've had fun experimenting the last few weeks.

Two dessert quesadilla creations made the GrillGrate website this past week.(out of several mis-fires including a pie crust wrapped fruit calzone)

Grilled Raspberry Chocolate Yummy pushed all the buttons for me, and Christopher Columbus Grilled Apple Pie was a big hit last Friday night.
These two GrillGrate desserts do not qualify for our Grill More, Eat Less menu!

I've become a Barbecue Groupie!

We had the pleasure of spending 4 days with some of the most passionate, authentic and colorful people at the annual National Barbecue Conference in Austin. The NBBQA is a not for profit organization that serves anyone serious about BBQ: Restaurants, Competition Teams, Caterers and enthusiasts. I took our copy of Peace Love and Barbecue to gather signatures from many attendees who were in the book. I've become a barbecue groupie!

This gang's passion for barbecue is equally matched with their genuine desire to help each other by sharing techniques, recipes, business practices etc. The conference curriculum was outstanding with topics ranging from bottling and marketing your own sauce, branding, pitfalls of running a family business and of course judging and competing in barbecue competitions.

We had the pleasure of grilling BBQ pizzas and quesadillas for lunch one day and had a blast trying out different sauces made by other members. We used a lot of award winning sauces so I'll duck from playing favorites, but the most unusual was a jalepeno ginger jelly from Joy Peppers that we made quesadillas with. They were coming out of the building to taste this delightful treat. Does anyone have any pictures of these grate creations we were grilling? We were so busy grilling and selling :) that I only pulled the camera out once!

I'm excited that many of the attendees purchased GrillGrates for their restaurants and their backyards. We're looking forward to hearing back from you! And a special thank you to the NBBQA judges for The Award of Excellence that GrillGrate received as the best overall specialty product. I am proud that we'll have the NBBQA logo and the award on our product label! We grately appreciate the hospitality of the NBBQA staff: Joe, Ashley and Tyva, and the many new friends we made. The SHED BBQ & Blues Joint put on a diner the last night that was over the top. The cheese and crab grits were to die for. You must visit THE SHED if you are anywhere near the Mississipi coast. Funny thing is my wife has never been a big fan of barbecue, but she sure loves the barbecue crowd! Peace, Love and Barbecue! Great book, great people, great industry. Now we have more friends to stop and visit.