Ulika Food Blog Presents the 2010 Nashville Burger Tournament
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Nashville Burger Tournament - Round 1 Begins
BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Stubb's Original
In Middle Tennessee, Stubb's is a barbecue sauce. In Austin, Texas, Stubb's is an institution. It's a restaurant and it's a live music venue. And I'm not talking about Joe Singersongwriter and his guitar or a Saturday night cover band. Stubb's regularly hosts real concerts, and is a key venue at South by Southwest (the Walkmen and Spoon are playing there tonight).
How good is the restaurant? It depends on who you ask. The general consensus seems to be that however good the barbecue once was when the place was in Lubbock, it isn't much count these days. Still, it seems like a very values-driven organization that is committed to more than just making a buck. The sauce arm of the company partners with homeless shelters and soup kitchens across the country and has made it part of their mission to "feed the world."
The Stubb's line of barbecue sauces has been very successful. They have found their way onto supermarket shelves nationwide and were the 8th highest selling barbecue sauce brand in 2009. The sauce comes in six permutations - original, spicy, mild, hickory bourbon, honey pecan, and smokey mesquite. They also make a variety of rubs and marinades.
The "original" version of the sauce is definitely a little bit hotter than your normal sauce that is not labeled "hot." Overall, this is more of a savory and spicy kind of flavor than sweet. There is a modicum of sweetness, but it exists more as a complement than a leading player. The sauce has a very earthy, natural taste, with lots of rich tomato flavor enhanced by notes of vinegar, onion, garlic and tamarind. The consistency of the sauce is relatively thick, with a relatively smooth texture. Bits of pepper punctuate the the dark red color.
Grade: A-
What Day Is It? Slight Delay in the Burger Tournament
Is this a weekday?
There has been a slight delay in the Burger Tournament. The voting will begin Thursday the 18th to coincide with the NCAA Tournament. This way the voting will be continuous without a stoppage in play. Sorry for the confusion, but I have never hosted a tournament of this size before. Here is the new schedule:
Round 1 - March 18-20
Round 2 - March 21-23
Sweet 16 - March 24-26
Elite 8 - March 27-29
Final 4 - March 30 - April 1
Championship Game - April 2-5
March Madness: Nashville Burger Tournament Update
There is a slight change to the dates for the burger tournament. All voting will begin at 12:00 am on the first date listed and it will end at 11:59 pm on the last date for each round.
Round 1 - March 16-18
Round 2 - March 19-21
Sweet 16 - March 24-26
Elite 8 - March 27-29
Final 4 - March 31 - April 2
Championship Game - April 3-5
Selection Sunday: South Bracket
1st Round South
1 Gabby's
16 Sports Page
8 Corner Pub
9 Morton's
5 McCabe Pub
12 Puffy Muffin
4 Twin Kegs
13 Judge Bean's
6 Capitol Grille
11 Cross Corner Bar & Grill
3 12 South Taproom
14 Ant B's Burgers
7 The Melrose
10 Sunset Grill
2 Five Guys
15 Sam's
Selection Sunday: West Bracket
1st Round West
1 Rotier's
16 Southside Grill
8 Fleming's
9 The Gold Rush
5 Red Robin
12 Commodore Bar & Grill
4 Ted's Montana Grill
13 Robert's Western World
6 Belle
11 Hutton Hotel
3 Bobbie's Dairy Dip
14 Mambu
7 Dalt's
10 Blackstone's
2 Sportsman's Grill
15 Nero's Grill
Selection Sunday: East Bracket
1st Round East
1 Fat Mo's
16 Johnathan's
8 Bricktop's
9 Hermitage Cafe
5 The Palm
12 Whiskey Kitchen
4 Buster's
13 Big River Grille
6 Bosco's
11 Frank-N-Burger
3 The Edgefield
14 Dan Mcguinness
7 J. Alexander's
10 Jackson's
2 PM
15 Harpeth Grill
Selection Sunday: North Bracket
1st Round North
1 Brown's Diner
16 Past Perfect
8 Burgers n Cream
9 Backyard Burger
5 F. Scott's
12 Broadway Brewhouse
4 Boswell's Harley Davidson
13 Whole Foods Grill
6 Merchant's
11 Noshville
3 Cheeseburger Charley's
14 Crow's Nest
7 Blue Goose Cafe
10 Paradise Park
2 Elliston Place Soda Shop
15 SoBro Grill
Assault with a Deadly Meat Thermometer
Man stabbed with meat thermometer at movie in CA
(AP) – 2 days ago
LANCASTER, Calif. — Authorities say a man was stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer after asking a woman to silence her cell phone during a screening of the film "Shutter Island" at a Southern California movie theater.
Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the stabbing happened Feb. 27 during a screening of the Martin Scorsese film in Lancaster. He says the two suspects remain at large.
Whitmore says the victim had complained about a woman sitting nearby who was talking on her phone during the movie. He says the woman left with two men, but the men returned minutes later and stabbed the victim in the neck.
Two other people in the theater came to the victim's aid and also were hurt. The man was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The sheriff's office says it knew the weapon used was a meat thermometer because the suspects left it behind. No further details were released.
Ouch.
So who carries around a meat thermometer to a picture show?
Music Thursday: Let It Rock
One week from today we will be competing in Little Rock Arkansas at the $100,000
USA Barbecue Championship.
In an ode to those competing in Mobile this weekend and in preparation for Rockin' in Little Rock here is some Chuck Berry for ya:
BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Williamson Bros
Williamson Bros is a big barbecue outfit in the suburbs of Atlanta. Alabama natives Danny and Larry Williamson opened the first location in 1990 , and it has since become a Cobb County institution. I have never been to the restaurant, but I'm happy to give their sauce a go.
This sauce is an attractive bright red, but it's far from the consistency of ketchup. It's thinner than most that you find in the grocery store - not too much thicker than water. It's got a lot of bits of stuff suspended throughout - some bits of onion, but mostly spices.
The sauce is immediately sweeter than you'd expect such a thin sauce to be, but the vinegar definitely makes its presence felt, too. It packs a pretty potent peppery punch, but won't light you up by any means. And there is a distinct fruity essence to this sauce that I can't quite put my finger on. Overall, not a great sauce, but definitely different.
Grade: B
BBQ IN THE NEWS: Old Timer's Robbed at Gunpoint
Old Timer's Pit Bar-B-Que & Fish on Clarksville Highway in North Nashville was the victim of an armed robbery on Saturday morning. A masked man entered the building and put a gun to an employee's head and told him to call his boss into the room. Owner Howard Owen sensed trouble and grabbed his pistol, but the surprise of seeing a masked marauder caused him to fall and hit his head. In the end, the robber left with the cash while Owen and his employee counted to sixty.
WTVF's website has surveillance camera footage and an interview.
You can read our review of Old Timer's and the rest of the Clarksville Highway barbecue joints here.
BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Jack Daniel's Original No. 7
In 2001, the Jack Daniel's name was licensed to Heinz to create a line of barbecue sauces, steak sauces and marinades. The Jack Daniel's-Barbecue connection is well established, with Lynchburg and JD annually hosting one of the most prestigious barbecue cookoffs in the nation. Heinz developed a line of products using "Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey Flavoring (Natural & Artificial Flavors)". They made the plastic bottles in the shape of Jack Daniel's bottles. And voilà...let's go make some money.
Honestly, for a sauce that hangs its hat on a whiskey brand, it seemed to lack any real whiskey flavor. Allegedly the "Master Blend" flavor contains a stronger whiskey flavor...fyi. There are also Honey Smokehouse, Hickory Brown Sugar, Spicy, and Steakhouse flavors to choose from.
Mostly what this sauce is is smokey and sweet. It's very very thick and dark burgundy colored, with a smooth texture. And like I said...smokey. This is one of the smokiest barbecue sauces that I have yet tasted. The sweetness is strong as well. It's a dense molasses sweetness that seems to enhance the smokiness. There's not much more to the flavor than that...a little bit of vinegar, a little bit of mustard, and maybe if you tilt your head just right, a little bit of whiskey.
Grade: C
CUD
Joe York did it again. Here is another short documentary from the SFA by Joe York. He follows Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Mr. Harris, a fifth generation farmer, explains his process of raising and processing all natural grass feed beef.
"If you going to cook it well done, go to the discount store and get you something that cost a dollar a pound." - Will Harris
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