Table of Contents
To the crew of Team Barbecue: Global Gluttony
Pamela Director of Operations, my true love. Your love, support and guidance have given me and our team the drive to go for the very bestin food, fun and flavor. I love you
Pit Loss 6 Guns McColl Smoke em if you got em is true to your passion for creating great food.
Jo Jo Lusted Thanks for rounding out this perfect team. As Corporate Chef Teddys Island BBQ, you are the Queen of the Q. Watch out guys, this lady can Q with the best
the other chefs, foodies, friends and BBQ fanatics, you how you are. Thanks for all your supposition.
Get Sticky!
TED READERS WORLD
WELCOME TO TEDS WORLD. Working with Ted is an experience
like no other, and we want to tell you a bit about his excitement,
passion and devotion to great food and fun.
With his signature spiky hair, sunglasses and flame-covered chefs jacket, Ted Reader is the complete opposite of what many of us expect a chef to look like. When Joanne arrived for her interview with him, she found out that Ted didnt act like any other chef, either. Ted asked her two questions: Do you like tequila? and Do you like cats? He then informed her of the only two rules in Teds World:
No. 1 There must always be a bottle of tequila in the freezer.
No. 2 Never, ever, let the cats out. Everything else is open to interpretation, imagination and adventure. Having understood the rules, Joanne was presented with a giant 20-oz steak, some lobster tails and a log of goats cheese. Ted said that hed be back for lunch in one hour. She cooked lunch, no cats escaped, we had tequila and she had the job.
We never know what to say when someone asks us what we do for a living. Mike once tried to explain it to a chef friend, Olaf Mertens. Olafs response to some of Mikes stories: Only in Ted Readers World! Teds World is a place where you really dont know what to expect on a daily basis. In Teds World, you set up kitchens in fields, on street corners, in backyards and on beaches. You are able to cook on over 100 different types of grills and smokers, try over 80 different types of tequila, be the personal chef for a professional race car driver. Mike has been working for Ted for over four years and he notes that some days we dont cook at all; instead we are experimenting, brainstorming crazy delicious new ideas. Only in Teds World are you asked for a hundred ideas for things to do with ketchup or what can you do with ranch dressing, other than make a salad. There is definitely no training program, just a lot of trial and error.
The other question were asked all the time is, Where do you come up with your recipe ideas? Ted is wildly creative, with a passion for anything over-the-top. He loves to eat and explore food. Ted has always encouraged us to go beyond the everyday stuff and ask, Why not? Why not use grilled cheese sandwiches as burger buns (Teddys Grilled Cheese Beef Burger, p. 106), make your own hot sauce (Dragon BBQ Sauce, p. 255), or bake a cake on the grill (Pineapple Rum Upside-Down Cake, p. 224). There are no limits when it comes to inventing new, tasty dishes.
We fed over 20,000 people last summer and every time we cook the same old thing, it changes a little. We take it one step further to see what will happen. Many of our recipes come from events, BBQ demo classes and dinner parties. Seeing what people like to eat, what really gets them fired up, always inspires us. As well, for the most part, we work with ingredients and equipment that are familiar to just about everyone. Our kitchen is one that most people would feel at home in, and we have the same grocery store as everyone else. Ted knows that most bottled barbecue sauces are similar (though he would definitely recommend his King of the Q Smokin Beer BBQ Sauce or his King of the Q Pineapple Rum BBQ Sauce!) it all depends on personal taste, and whatever you have in the fridge will usually work just fine. Thats why, in our recipes, we often just say to use any good gourmet barbecue sauce, or any kind of dressing you like.
Just about anything can inspire Ted to come up with something new, and he is always thinking up a dozen new projects like his restaurant, Teddys Island BBQ. It takes a moderately insane chef to open a restaurant and a brilliantly insane chef to open one in the Dominican Republic, which Ted has done. Teddys Island BBQ abounds not only with Teds passion for great food but for what he is truly all about having fun and loving life.
One day Ted told us he wanted to do a barbecue cookbook that would cover every kind of grilling, smoking and planking, would include over 200 recipes, lots of great tips and advice, and tons of pictures something different from anything else out there. And here it is: King of the Qs Blue Plate BBQ, a shining example of what its like to be a part of Ted Readers World. He always finds a way to grill the un-grillable and explain it in a simple, fun way that everyone can understand. As well as including the best BBQ recipes anywhere (at least, in our opinion!), Blue Plate BBQ just happens to be a compilation of countless crazy adventures and unforgettable times with Ted. And to those of you opening this book for the first or the fiftieth time, we hope that the recipes and the good times you create along with them truly leave you feeling fantastic.
Chefs Joanne Lusted and Mike McColl
INTRODUCTION
GETTING READY FOR GRILLING, GLAZING, DIPPING AND LICKING
BARBECUING IS MY PASSION. Its also my profession, so I take it
pretty seriously. This means that Ive made quite a study of the various
kinds of grilling and smoking machines and the different types of
cooking methods. These days there are hundreds of different types and
styles of grills, and it can be tough to pick which one is right for you.
Thats why I have over 75 grills and smokers in my backyard! With a
little ingenuity, you can make great barbecue using just about any kind
of heat source. But for fanatics like me, each kind of machine or
method is going to offer its own appeal for different cooking situations.
Although I use all of my grills, the ones that get fired up the most are
my Napoleon propane grills, which also use charcoal; my ceramic
charcoal grill-smokers by The Big Green Egg and Primo; my Bradley
Digital Electric Smoker; my open firepit; and my big rig #52.
The natural gas or propane grill is what most people have at home. A gas flame ensures steady heat, and this type of grill allows you to cook everything from hamburgers to delicate fish. Its the all-purpose machine. It is also the best grill on which to bake desserts. When youre baking, precise temperature control is a must, and these grills allow you to carefully gauge and maintain an even temperature. The Big Green Egg is a specialty piece of equipment based on an ancient Japanese design. Its ceramic construction allows for something like convection cooking, and it cooks quickly and well. It also converts, to function as a smoker. The Egg is a great grill-smoker, for grillers who want to ease into smoking. There are also many similar types of ceramic grill-smokers out there. My other favorite is the Primo Kamado, which, like the Egg, is a gem to work with.