#24: barbecue - July 2011

BBQ cookoff was held on the 12th of June at Nina's beautiful house in Mt. Pleasant. We had two grills set up so that it wouldn't take all night to cook everything, and sat at the big wooden table on the deck. It was clear and warm until after 10, when it started raining lightly, but we had all finished serving by then. There were a number of attendants who were not competing, so the booze was plentiful: two giant bottles of red wine plus a case of beer and a giant bottle of champagne! Nina and Mart made several bowls of delicious sangria and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. If only all cookoffs could be held outside.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Amanda: "psychedelic cattails" bannock wrapped around spiced mango, served with roasted red pepper sauce

Malloreigh: "char siu me" sticky rice and char siu seitan cooked in banana leaves, served with chive buds

Laryssa: "summer fruit skewers" seitan, onion, garlic & nectarine in bbq sauce, rolled in cornflake crumbs

Tim: "jerking seitan's cookoff" seitan jerky smoked with hickory and red wine

Jen: "honeyed sage advice" agave-balsamic glazed white peaches with crème fraîche, lemon, and sage

Jeff D: "Boston butt podunk" pulled pork-style sandwiches made with jackfruit, sauerkraut, root beer, onion, and pepper

Yaara: "skewed reality" beer & chipotle-marinated skewers of tofu, tempeh, and shiitake mushrooms in a maple bbq sauce

Nina: "the Eurasian singe" peri-peri tofu and sesame mango salsa on a ginger-garlic crostini, topped with tahini sauce


Also in attendance were Mart, Jeff Z, Sarah, Tim's friend Eliot, Adriana, Luc, Dan, and a couple of other friends who weren't there the whole time and thus did not participate in the voting.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Jeff
presentation: Malloreigh/Jen
creativity: Jeff
best use of theme: Laryssa/Yaara
overall favourite: Jen/Jeff

overall winner: Jeff

best name: (unscored category) Tim


Amanda's entry on the grill.

Jen's entry on the grill.

Sangria. What a beautiful evening.