jimswside wrote:baby ray has just commited, and is bringing a couple of members of his competition bbq team with him. He is doing ribs, and chicken thighs I believe.

Sweet!

RAB and I will be making gelato for the picnic.

Can't wait,
Ronna

I'm going to make two potato salads, one traditional mayo version (my mother's) and the other a John Joho recipe I found in a Tribune article in which he was doing a picnic for friends from France. The Joho recipe has the holy of holies, double smoked bacon which I'll source from Bobby Nelson's in Kenosha. Bnowell724, please go ahead and make cornbread and I'll tell the friend I'm bringing to bake something dessert like as that's her strong suite. I'm getting excited

The Menu So Far:

[Updated menu moved downthread.]

thanks for updating the food list aschie30,

looks like the menu is coming together.

Ill be smoking more ribs & sausage this weekend, Ive got the timing down, now I just need to work on the rub a little. tough way to spend a weekend.

I may do boudin, or wild game sausages on the smoker instead of hot links, Ill see what is available as the date gets closer.

I think G Wiv should bring his famous dragon turds!

mbh wrote:I'm going to make two potato salads, one traditional mayo version (my mother's) and the other a John Joho recipe I found in a Tribune article in which he was doing a picnic for friends from France. The Joho recipe has the holy of holies, double smoked bacon which I'll source from Bobby Nelson's in Kenosha. Bnowell724, please go ahead and make cornbread and I'll tell the friend I'm bringing to bake something dessert like as that's her strong suite. I'm getting excited

Ok, will do. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do both cornbread and mac n cheese. It depends on if I can get Kendall to let me use their kitchen. My own is not very well epuipped for making large quantities of food.

I'm still tentative, but if I do come, I'll bring 1 or 2 (depending on the final count of attendees) sides of salmon to cook Nez Perce Indian style, if there is some available smoker space. I'll also be bringing my "Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Southwestern Black Bean Salad".

stevez wrote:I'm still tentative, but if I do come, I'll bring 1 or 2 (depending on the final count of attendees) sides of salmon to cook Nez Perce Indian style, if there is some available smoker space. I'll also be bringing my "Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Southwestern Black Bean Salad".

I am really hoping your schedule allows you to make it steve. Ill keep my fingers crossed.

Hey Everyone, sorry to jump in so late in the fray.

Jim: I'm still on, and it will be just me & probably my son.

Ill bring up my Masterbuilt smoker and if requested (or needed) I can also toss in the Cookshack Smokette too. And no snickering guys; they're both electric!

Q: Are there to many ribs already on the menu? If not, I would love to do my competition babybacks. How racks are we talking about by the way??

My second go-to meat is usually a brisket, but I dont think a brisket would be practical due to the time issue. Meaning, if I do a full packer, it usually takes around 12-17 hours. I guess I could do a big 'ol butt and add some pulled pork to the mix.

Let me know what the preference is, I'll accommodate.

abf005 wrote:Hey Everyone, sorry to jump in so late in the fray.

Jim: I'm still on, and it will be just me & probably my son.

Ill bring up my Masterbuilt smoker and if requested (or needed) I can also toss in the Cookshack Smokette too. And no snickering guys; they're both electric!

Q: Are there to many ribs already on the menu? If not, I would love to do my competition babybacks. How racks are we talking about by the way??

My second go-to meat is usually a brisket, but I dont think a brisket would be practical due to the time issue. Meaning, if I do a full packer, it usually takes around 12-17 hours. I guess I could do a big 'ol butt and add some pulled pork to the mix.

Let me know what the preference is, I'll accommodate.

glad to have you BUrt,

I am doing 5-6 racks of babybacks, and about 5-6# of sausage. Another meat option is appreciated, and needed. Pulled pork, babybacks, etc.

For the folks smoking meat I know there is alot of time involved, so if you need to come out @ 5 a.m. do it, it is all good. I think Panther in the Den was thinking about doing brisket & maybe camping out while the brisket cooks, thats cool too. Its an all day event.

I was thinking about having the meat items ready to eat somewhere between 1 and 3 p.m., but nothing is set in stone as far as that goes. And we all know bbq is done when it is done.

Hi,

I have a meeting in Chicago in the morning, I expect to leave Chicago by noon. How much time should it take?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I have a meeting in Chicago in the morning, I expect to leave Chicago by noon. How much time should it take?

Regards,

for reference it takes me about 50 minutes to get to Burr Ridge(I-55 & I-294) on a Saturday & another 20-30 minutes to get to the Soldier Field area.

Best way out is I-55 South to I-80 West to exit # 97 (then about 2 miles from the ecit). I will send a p.m. with actual address around the 24th as the count gets finalized.

jimswside wrote:
glad to have you BUrt,

I am doing 5-6 racks of babybnacks, and about 5-6# of sausage. Another meat option is appreciated, and needed. Pulled pork, babybacks, etc.

For the folks smoking meat I know there is alot of time involved, so if you need to come out @ 5 a.m. do it, it is all good. I think Panther in the Den was thinking about doing brisket & maybe camping out while the brisket cooks, thats cool too. Its an all day event.

I was thinking about having the meat items ready to eat somewhere between 1 and 3 p.m., but nothing is set in stone as far as that goes. And we all know bbq is done when it is done.

Cool: then I'll plan on bringing out 2- three rack package of babybacks.

Figure I'll need about 4-5 hours cooking the ribs, so working backwards, that means I need get to your place by 8am... and leave Gurnee at 5:30/6 AM! Everything will have to be prepped the day before, no doubt! Look forward to seeing & meeting you all!

I think I'll switch mine to mac 'n cheese if that's okay since it might be difficult for the other person who was bringing it to do that plus cornbread. I see someone else is making baked beans anyway. I'll still be bringing dessert also.

I don't know if I can arrive early enough to smoke something from start to finish and have it ready by 2 pm, so my plan is to bring some home-made charcuterie of some sort (probably a few different types of sausage and maybe some other items) and grill them on my WSM or kettle. If I can get there early enough to completely smoke something, it'll be lamb barbacoa (and I'll bring some tortillas, too). Of course, this is all subject to change but I will definitely bring some sort of meaty main dish, in any event. I'll also bring some bourbons, other beverages and chairs for at least my crew, if not for a few more . . .

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I don't know if I can arrive early enough to smoke something from start to finish and have it ready by 2 pm, so my plan is to bring some home-made charcuterie of some sort (probably a few different types of sausage and maybe some other items) and grill them on my WSM or kettle. If I can get there early enough to completely smoke something, it'll be lamb barbacoa (and I'll bring some tortillas, too). Of course, this is all subject to change but I will definitely bring some sort of meaty main dish, in any event. I'll also bring some bourbons, other beverages and chairs for at least my crew, if not for a few more . . .

=R=

Sounds good Ronnie, thanks.

Jim,

Is there a chance your wife might make the banana crumble? It sounded like a terrific dessert.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Jim,

Is there a chance your wife might make the banana crumble? It sounded like a terrific dessert.

Regards,

Ill ask her, I imagine she would be glad to.

sounds like you have a good bbq going on
looking forward to meeting everybody
and having a good old time

baby ray wrote:sounds like you have a good bbq going on
looking forward to meeting everybody
and having a good old time

I agree, thanks to all that are coming, and all that have given assistance in planning, etc.

having a good ol' time is the goal.

slainte, practicing up(smoking and drinking)..

I plan on bringing:
Italian Potatoes
Blueberry Lemon Tarts

Jyoti

jygach wrote:I plan on bringing:
Italian Potatoes
Blueberry Lemon Tarts

Jyoti

both sound good, thanks.

Jim-

Bad news, I blew out my main (competition) smoker yesterday!!

When I fired it up yesterday to do a trial run on some ribs in preparation for your event, the temp controller went out and fried the heating element wires inside the smoker. Even though I have spare controllers & heating elements for this model, it does no good. Since the smoker is welded stainless and riveted shut, I cant get inside at any of the wires to replace them, so its trashed.

This has always been the drawback to cooking with electric smokers, they all go out eventually and it seems to be about 3 years is the max life with one of these things (except for that rediculously tiny 6 year old cookshack of mine that just wont die).

I'm really bummed, on two levels; this is costly replacement at a time when I'm really trying to keep my expenses down. And secondly, I'll have to cancel on doing this one, and wait & see if you do another event sometime in the near future.

abf005 wrote:
I'm really bummed, on two levels; this is costly replacement at a time when I'm really trying to keep my expenses down. And secondly, I'll have to cancel on doing this one, and wait & see if you do another event sometime in the near future.

its all good, maybe next time burt.

you are still welcome to come out and eat, and maybe bring a desert, etc.

let me know.

I will bring Chocolate Pecan pie and probably one other pie-like dessert.

Burt,

I cannot see how your BBQ rig being out of commission means you cannot attend. I think you are welcome with or without it.

Just a thought.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I cannot see how your BBQ rig being out of commission means you cannot attend. I think you are welcome with or without it.

definitely welcome,

Burt is one of the folks I am really looking forward to meeting.

We have been chatting online and on each others blogs for a while, even back to my Chowhound days before I asked the CH moderators to close my account.

aschie30 wrote:I will bring Chocolate Pecan pie and probably one other pie-like dessert.

sounds really good, my wife(who is allergic to chocolate) requests a non-chocolate pie.

thanks again for all you help keeping the menu organized.