My Asian-inspired pulled pork sandwich...yes, I dared!

I finally did it. On Sunday July 4th, after a few weekends of barbecuing on my Weber Performer (the last time, smoking a chicken), I got up the courage to use their massive 22-inch Smokey Mountain Cooker. I must admit to have been a little overwhelmed by its appearance. Intimidating, it looks like no other BBQ equipment I’ve ever used before. The encouraging thing is that I’m in good hands when it comes to barbecuing, my pitmaster friends always ready to offer some good tips at a moment’s notice.

Taking the bull by the horns, I decide to tackle the task at hand on my own at first. Following the instructions in the manual, I study Smokey from the bottom up, building the fire in the pit, filling the water pan with equal parts water and 100% fruit juice, and placing the spice-rubbed pork butts (top part of the shoulder), fat side down on the grates directly above. There is nothing more simple, quite frankly. It’s maintaining the temperature at 250°F for 12 hours for each of the 9-pound butts that can be tricky.

Weber's 22-inch Smokey Mountain Cooker...inexpensive, efficient, and user-friendly!

An attractive, well-constructed cooker, the Smokey looks like something between a barrel and a bullet, standing vertically with 3 vents equidistant from each other at the bottom, and one on the lid at the top directly opposite the thermometer. Aside from refueling halfway through the low-and-slow cooking process, the vents are key in controlling the temperature at a steady 250°F. The more open the vents are, the more air feeds the fire. The more closed they are, the less air gets in, choking the fire and lowering the temperature. I’m amazed at how this relatively inexpensive cooker performs. The heat is steady, and I barely have to adjust the temperature using the vents; may be a half a dozen times throughout the duration of this 12 or so hour exercise.

For someone like me who is extremely tactile and curious, keeping the lid closed throughout the cooking is definitely challenging. I want to see what’s happening, but any pitmaster will tell you “if you’re looking, you’re not cooking!” That makes sense, because if I wanted to check out the butts, as often as I do, the meat would be raw after 12 hours of cooking, from opening the lid too often. I’m not used to not looking, but this time, I decide to be patient, which definitely pays off in absolutely delicious pork butts, buttery in consistency with meat falling off the bones effortlessly. Registering at 195°F internally, I pull the meat, chop it, and stack it on a bun, topped with my hoisin-based BBQ sauce and Asian coleslaw, for my version of the classic American pulled pork sandwich.

From L to R: raw, rubbed, and smoked!

CT’S ASIAN FIVE-SPICE DRY RUB
(enough for two 9 to 10 pound pork butts)

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
CT’s secret spice(s); every pitmaster has at least one!

Mix together well and sprinkle generously all over the pork butt or shoulder.

CT’s ASIAN BBQ SAUCE
(makes 2 cups; enough to moisten 24 pulled pork sandwiches)

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet sake)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons sriracha (smooth chili sauce)
1 ounce ginger, freshly grated
1 large garlic clove, freshly grated
1 scallion, minced
CT’s secret ingredient!

Whisk together well and drizzle over pulled pork sandwich

CT’s ASIAN COLESLAW
(makes a lot, enough for a small crowd!)

1/4 cup shiro-miso (white miso)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce
2 pounds shredded green cabbage
One 12-ounce bag shredded broccoli and carrot mix
1 small to medium onion, minced
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
CT’s secret ingredient

In a large bowl, stir together the miso, vinegar, mirin, chili-garlic sauce, oil, and honey. Add the cabbage, broccoli and carrots, onion, bell pepper, and toss well. Let macerate for 2 hours, tossing occasionally to redistribute the ingredients and dressing.

I can tell you that the recipes above are delicious even with a few ingredients missing. This wasn’t my idea, but I was told it is necessary and just the way it is in the BBQ world. You just never know when I might compete, and I wouldn’t want to come up against you with my recipes.

Beverage of choice…a cold beer!

Enjoy, as always!
CT

First BBQ Chicken with my Original Asian White Sauce!

As soon as it gets warm outside, the grills get fired up, and aromas waft through the air, from one neighbor’s backyard to the next. On this July 4^th weekend, I’m going to enjoy the fireworks, the company of friends, and parties with lots of food and wine. Indeed, on my side of the fence, I’m experimenting with barbecue flavored with Asian spices and condiments.

My goal this weekend is to cook low-and-slow over indirect heat and create a new kind of barbecue, one incorporating Asian ingredients, omitting the traditional ones, and all the while staying with the basic principle of balancing spices and herbs over a canvas of salt and sugar.

My Weber Performer definitely performed!

Last night I created my very own white sauce based on Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Original White Sauce in Decatur, Alabama, where it was invented and made popular.  While the original uses mayonnaise as its base, mine uses coconut milk, and the rest of the ingredients are just as different. The one basic rule still remains, however. It’s tangy, sweet, and salty and ever so slightly bitter and spicy. Otherwise said, it’s balanced!

CT’S ORIGINAL ASIAN WHITE SAUCE

coconut milk, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, shallot, curry, rice vinegar, oh my...

(about 2-1/4 cups and good for a 4-pound roaster!)

2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder (or garam masala)
1 ounce ginger, freshly grated
1 large garlic clove, freshly grated
1 large shallot, freshly grated
1 teaspoon chili paste (optional)

Marinate the chicken in the white sauce for 12 hours, refrigerated.

Preparing the Weber Performer for indirect heat cooking, I’m preheating the grill to 325°F for 20 minutes, the charcoal baskets filled halfway up with Kingsford briquettes.

Once you see white ash, push the charcoal baskets off to one side of the grill, leaving the other side void.

soak apple wood chunks in the water-juice concoction...why not?!

For extra flavor, soak some apple wood chunks for a couple of hours and throw them on the hot charcoal. Place an aluminum pan filled with equal parts water and 100% fruit juice (apple, white grape, or pineapple, for example) underneath the grill grate, with the chicken skin side up on the grate and directly above the pan. Cook, with lid down for about 1 hour. Baste with marinade and return bird, turning it 180° (so the legs are now closer to the heat source) to the pit covered with lid for another 45 minutes to 1 hour until done, which means when the joints are loose and you can twist them easily. If you prefer, stick a thermometer in the bird and when the temperature reaches 160°F in the breasts and 175°F in the thighs, pull it out, let it rest for 15 minutes, and enjoy this succulent bird with a big salad on the side.

partying and barbecuing for the next few days...tongs in one hand, wine in the other!

Now my friend, well-known pitmaster and best-selling author Chris Lilly, always says “if you’re opening the lid, you’re not cookin’.” Well that’s true, but considering how tactile and curious I am, barbecuing “the right way” is challenging for me. Patience is definitely a virtue and I’ve been put to the test.

…and now off to buy more meat and charcoal! Pork shoulder is in my (and your) near future. Firing up Smokey tonight around midnight for some pulled pork sandwich tomorrow for lunch. It comes with a little of this and that, and a bit of hoisin BBQ sauce on the side, please!

Happy 4^th of July, y’all y’all…

CT

flipping meat back and forth every few minutes will ensure even cooking throughout, a beautiful golden color, and no burning! (it's almost there, another 5 to 10 minutes and I'm digging in.)

It’s lunch time and a rack of lamb, trimmed French-style, seasoned with a sweet and savory Chinese five-spice rub, sounds really good served with a mixed green and fresh herb salad. This is a perfect meal that is neither too light nor too heavy but just right and satisfying.

Charcoal baskets filled and set inside my Weber Performer, I fire up the grill and let the flames settle. Like all cooking techniques, grilling  requires some imagination and close attention. I don’t just throw a good piece of meat on a hot grate and leave. Any good meat has a fair amount of fat, which will cause flare ups, and I’m not really looking for an amazing cut like a rack of lamb to be engulfed in flames and charred beyond recognition. When grilling over direct heat I like to doctor the meat, meaning keep a close watch while flipping it back and forth so as to distribute the heat evenly throughout while crisping it to a rich golden color. (The alternative is burnt meat, which tends to taste bitter and is considered a carcinogen, which I would imagine is undesirable!).

I love grilling lamb, more so than roasting or braising it. Gamy in flavor, it’s enhanced with a

a refreshing summer salad helps digest the heavier part of the meal, in this case a delicious rack of lamb!

subtle smokey flavor that pairs well with the spices used. I have to admit that this Chinese style spice rub is something I am still developing, which is why this weekend I’ve applied it to a small portion of meat cooked over direct heat in preparation for the big July 4th weekend when I’ll be doing brisket, pork shoulder, and ribs. I’m a bit nervous because so far it’s an experiment. I’m playing with Asian spices, which for the most part, tend to be more pronounced than those used in classic American BBQ dry rubs. Additionally, in Asia, herbal pastes are used in combination with dried spices to flavor meats such as the popular skewered meats known as satay. While I test the waters, I’ll be light handed to make sure that at the very least I’m going in the right direction. Here I’ve combined both wet and dry ingredients. Nothing fancy, but definitely delicious! Check out the recipes below:

CT’s Simple Asian Dry Rub

(makes about 1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and five-spice powder thoroughly.

CT’s Five Spice Rack of Lamb
(serves 4, or less!)

2 racks of lamb
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 ounce ginger, peeled and grated
CT’s Simple Asian Dry Rub (see above)

1) Preheat the Weber Performer for 15 minutes.

2) Meanwhile rub each rack with grated garlic and ginger, then sprinkle the dry rub generously on both sides. Shake access rub off and place racks over direct heat, fat side down. Turn every 2 minutes to desired doneness and until golden crisp. Lamb is best when cooked medium rare, or medium.

CT’s Leafy Green Mix
(serves 4)

1 cup tatsoy
1 cup arugula
8 large red oak leaf, each torn into 3 to 4 pieces (don’t tear them too small or they will wilt quickly)
4 leaves curly endive, each torn into 6 to 8 pieces
8 fresh herb leaves (cilantro, parsley, mint, tarragon, etc…torn if leaves are too large
1 ripe avocado, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon or more dark honey
freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

In a large wooden shallow bowl, toss the leafy greens and herbs together. Drizzle with rice vinegar, followed by olive oil. Dip a fork into the honey jar, letting most of it drip back in. Guide the fork back and forth over the mixed greens so as to distribute the honey all over. Season with salt and pepper and let stand for 15 minutes. Do not toss or the leaves will wilt quickly. Instead let the vinegar and oil trickle down in between the leaves.

This is an easy, elegant, and satisfying meal that can be thrown together in 20 minutes or less. I made this for a friend of mine who walked away with a smile spanning from one ear to the other. I think it’ll make yours happy too!

bon appétit!
CT

Block party over, we all gathered at Hill Country on Sunday night for some down time and a beer!

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2010 has come and gone. For pitmasters the event started on Friday night, setting up their massive BBQ rigs, firing them up, and loading tons of meat from ribs, to brisket, sausage, pork shoulders, whole hogs, and more. It’s a huge event that takes place during the second weekend in June on both Saturday and Sunday, with over 100,000 visitors eating their way through just shy of twenty BBQ stations. The wait can be long, but rain or shine, they stand in line hoping pitmasters don’t run out of the food. The best is when they make it to the front of the line and get served. The worst is when they see a man standing in line with them but holding that blue flag, signaling that the pitmaster is about to run out of “Q”, as was the case with Big Bob Gibson’s award-winning pulled pork sandwich.

Big Bob Gibson’s Chris Lilly at the 2010 Big Apple BBQ Block Party from Anthony Quintano on Vimeo.

full of historical and personal anecdotes...Chris Lilly makes you want to "Q!"

Sunday looked like last year’s Sunday. Gray! And when it finally rained, umbrellas went up, and business went on as usual. I’d been working long hours with Chris Lilly and his crew since Friday night and right through Sunday evening. My body is glad it’s over because barbecuing in a serious way for thousands of people can be taxing. The hard part is knowing that it’ll be a year before I see my Alabama friends. Like Chris always says, barbecue is about so much more than the food. It’s about being in the company of  friends and having a great time, and so I may have worked about 15 hours a day, but I never felt them.

Chris Lilly’s Injection and Dry Rub recipe  for his award-winning Pork Shoulder, adapted from his best-selling book Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter, 2009):

For the INJECTION:

3/4 cup apple juice

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 salt

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

For the DRY RUB:

1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2-1/4 teaspoons garlic salt

2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

***Both rub and injection liquid are enough for a 16-18 pound whole pork shoulder. Set your grill/cooker at 225°F. (The charcoal should be set to one side of the pit, leaving the other side void. While bringing cooker to temperature, inject the shoulder with the liquid using a syringe, then rub the shoulder with the spice mix all over. Place the shoulder, fat side down over the void side of the grill. Place lid, and cook shoulder for 14 to 16 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat has reached 195°F. Transfer meat to cutting board, let rest for 30 minutes, and using insulated rubber gloves, pull the bone from the meat and discard. Then press down the meat and watch it fall apart. Remove any visible fat, and start chopping.

I highly recommend getting a few bottles of Big Bob Gibson’s Championship BBQ Sauce. It’s to die for!

Next weekend…pork shoulder infused with my Asian-inspired injection and rub as well as a new kind of BBQ Sauce. Ingredients such as lychee juice, coconut water, hoisin, soy sauce, five-spice, and more will be used. I’ll be loading up “Smokey” for the first time and testing these new recipes in time for July 4th weekend. It’s going to be an all-nighter!

crowded by Big Bob Gibson's

It’s 1 AM and I’m finally home, showered and in bed “resting my trotters,” as pitmaster Chris Lilly would say. It’s been a long 15-hour day of pulling and chopping close to 200 pork butts (top of the shoulder) to make thousands of the famous Big Bob Gibson pulled pork sandwich. Down to the last few sandwiches at around 4:30 PM this afternoon, Don MacLemore, grandson of the late Big Bob himself, walked down the line of hungry patrons, counting heads and keeping the few lucky ones while turning away the rest telling them, “come back tomorrow early!” This is my second year on the team and in my experience, cookers loaded to the max, we’ve always run out of pork butt early. The meat is that special.

Chris Lilly squirting his secret spicy vinegar concoction and couldn't wait until I was finish chopping!

It’s truly an honor to be here and there’s not one part of my job I don’t love when working this event. Sure, it’s hard work—I’d be lying, if I said that my body didn’t ache right now—but the company is such that every aspect of it is fun as well. Our assembly line is solid. Some of us unload the pork, while others inject, or rub, or load the cookers. And when that’s done, we make the coleslaw. I like to do a bit of everything because every time I do, I learn something new.

chopped and ready for the pulled pork sandwich assembly line

Tonight I picked up on a detail that is almost foreign to me. My attitude has always been “a little bit of this and that” in the kitchen. Something I learned from my grandmother who never measured anything but whose food was sublime. When it comes to barbecue, however, Chris always preaches precision. And while he too goes by feel, his approach is to never leave anything to chance. The ingredients are always the same, and measuring them is key. “The only way you can hope to win in competition is if your product is consistently great.” He’s a champion several times over, so he should know.

after a long day of pleasing the crowd, more injecting and rubbing to be done for the next day...

As we prepare the meat for the last day of this event, Chris will call out “3 full syringes into each shoulder.” For rubbing he’ll make sure the rub has gone all over “except for the flap.” And when it comes time to chop, he’ll feel each hot butt in the cooker until he finds one that “gives just right,” meaning until the meat giggles and falls off the bone. It’s an art and he breathes it. Enthralled by this experience, I begin to imagine my own pork butt loaded with my special Asian-inspired BBQ injection liquid and spice rub. Soon, I’ll be doing more than imagining. Stay tuned!

…and if you haven’t had a Big Bob Gibson pulled pork sandwich, stop by 27th and Madison. It’s worth the wait, but like Don MacLemore says, come early. We start serving at 11 AM until we run out!

(photography © by Anthony Quintano. All rights reserved.)

Chris Lilly (in blue) injecting pork butts, me directly across occasionally squirting my neighbors...no syringe needles broken this year!

… here again at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party working alongside celebrity pitmaster Chris Lilly…

It’s that time of year when pitmasters from around the country gather at Madison Square Park to serve tourists and New Yorkers hungry for ribs, sausage, brisket, and pulled pork. I’m here again at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party working alongside celebrity pitmaster Chris Lilly of the legendary Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL, and best selling author of Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter, 2009).

Reporting for duty last night, our assembly line was full of eager-to-learn friends. We unloaded pork butts from cartons. Weighing an average of 10 pounds a piece, we transferred close to 200 pieces onto our workstations where we injected them with a spicy and savory liquid concoction and rubbed them with a spice mix. By 9 PM, the cookers were fully loaded and I was on coleslaw duty, tilling shredded veggies including cabbage, carrots, onions, and peppers, with sugar and mustard dressing. Up to my elbows in sticky, creamy, deliciously sweet goo, my arms practically fell off by the end of the evening. I’m not complaining, and in fact I’ll be back at it again today, absorbing fine details of true barbecue, as I unload juicy, savory and sweet pork butts, chopping them for the much sought after pulled pork sandwich Big Bob Gibson is known for.

Now my Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker is at home waiting for me to fire it up for some serious Asian-inspired BBQ. I’ve not forgotten you “Smokey,” I’m just here learning from the best, only to return with the tools I need to load you up with confidence, YA hear…

I had a blast in California. Flew in on Friday August 14, 2009 and went right to Sur La Table for a hands-on cooking class in San Francisco. Enjoyed a full class of eager-to-learn couples. we could have sold this as an “Oodles of Noodles for Lovers!” Every time I teach everyone seems to want the popular summer rolls using rice paper with the spicy peanut sauce for dipping. I’ll make it on television, talk about it during radio interviews, and demo the technique in a classroom setting. Once you learn how to use rice papers, dipping them in water until pliable, you can fill them up with all sorts of fresh vegetables and cooked shrimp or leftover shredded meats, for example. It’s all so much fun to watch them as they learn and eventually perfect the technique.

Enjoyed the next day in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley at the Seghesio Family Winery where I sampled some terrific Zinfandel’s including Home Ranch, San Lorenzo, and the Old Vine and their new Pinot Noir. These beautiful wines were had with delicious sweet heirloom tomatoes from the Healdsburg Farmers Market. Sprinkled with sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil they not only paired well with the wines, but the local Jack cheese with whole peppercorns as well as a doughy spelt bread. Dessert? some of the most fragrant yellow peaches I’ve ever eaten. So fragrant I could smell them from aisles away.

Heirloom tomatoes from Healdsburg Farmers' Market with Seghesio Pinot Noir. A fine picnic lunch!

Sunday August 16 was a beautiful sunny day when Omnivore Books on Food hosted an event for me…it was a full house in this quaint little specialty book store. Not one seat left empty, instead filled with people who shared the same passion as me. We talked about noodles and so much more in a family-style setting, gathered close together.

I then decided to visit Chef Hoss Zare at his charming restaurant Zare at Fly Trap. This is a man who stands behind his ingredients, allows them to shine through, enhancing but never masking…cardamom, rose water, pomegranate are only but a few flavors to be enjoyed in any number of specialty dishes. I love the cucumber linguini (no wheat in this dish, just Persian cucumber cut into long, elegant strands) tossed with smoked trout and garnished with trout caviar. The smoke-cured pheasant served over crunchy, bitter leafy frisee, peppery watercress, roasted walnuts and refreshing sweet figs, I could eat everyday. This is indeed some of the most memorable foods I’ve had, and the best part was that I got to share it with my friends at Chronicle Books, publicist David Hawk, and editor Amy Treadwell. My heartfelt thanks to Hoss, too!

Sustainable cooking as a matter of course…

While in Los Angeles, I lectured at the 2009 Sustainable LA Conference on cooking “green” or “sustainably” as being the norm in Asian cultures. Many times in Southeast Asian countries especially, no refrigeration means going to market several times a day, where freshly slaughtered meats including offals and all sorts of seafood are on display. Not unusual is owning a pig in Asia. No only is it inexpensive to feed because all it means is giving it kitchen scraps, but when ready to kill, the meat can be cured to last for a long time and feed many mouths, and all the parts are used, from the blood, to the heart, spleen, meat, trotters, etc…I never gave “sustainable” cooking much thought because it is something that is ingrained in me. It’s second nature. Asian cooking is by definition a no-waste type of cooking, and not only when it comes to seafood, poultry, and meat, but also vegetables. I talked about a Japanese home cook I had met while on one of my trips to Kyoto. I recalled her using the crunchy peel of a squash in her stir-fry, while braising the soft spongy inside, and applying liquid soap to the stem-end to wash the pots she had just cooked in. I also talked about our very own food culture often making assumptions about what parts of foods are good versus those that are considered to be less than desirable. As examples I presented the scallion, mentioning how recipes in cookbooks (some of mine included because of some standard dictated by the publisher and current trends) would instruct using the “white parts only,” when the entire scallion white and green parts are perfectly edible and delicious, indeed the green part being more interesting for color alone. I also talked about how often I hear chefs preferring to use only the lower 6 to 8-inches of the lemongrass in a recipe, when again all of it should be used, the bruised leaves and tough grassy parts to flavor a stock, while the meaty creamy 6 to 8-inch stalk grated for marinades, for example. How many times have I seen fish bones and heads tossed in the garbage. In fact there is more flavor in the head of the fish, the cheeks being even more of a treat, than the fillets. The bones are perfect for stock as are vegetables scraps. How much of an onion do we throw out when chopping it? It’s mind boggling when you think about how much waste goes on in the food industry. Hopefully we don’t have to have conferences like these to make such a simple point, rather this simple approach to cooking should be matter of course in every kitchen.

Let’s Get Cookin’…

My California tour ended with a wonderful hands-on cooking class at Phyllis Vicarelli’s Let’s Get Cookin’ school celebrating the publication of Noodles Every Day (Chronicle Books, 2009). I find teaching extremely rewarding on a personal level. To share with others what I know and watch them explore ingredients on their own, puts a smile on my face. We made summer rolls with peanut sauce…I can’t stop making this popular snack. They also loved working with soba and cellophane noodles, watching the latter turn transparent when cooked through. It was an eye opener for the students, and for me another great experience.

I look forward to going to Alabama and Tennessee next.

photograph by Adam Waterson

The media event organized and hosted by Chadwick Boyd of Lovely & Delicious was amazing. The Art Institute of Atlanta’s culinary team was phenomenal. Thank you also to KA-ME and Decantus for sponsoring a great event. On the menu celebrating both my cookbooks including The Asian Grill (Chronicle Books, 2006) and Noodles Every Day (Chronicle Books, 2009) were: Asian Mango Salad, Grilled Shrimp Sate, Grilled Beef in Grape Leaf Rolls with Sweet, Sour, and Spicy Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Cham), Cold Soba Noodles with Watercress and Shiitake Mushrooms, and Tossed Leafy Greens with Walnut-Miso Dressing, and Tofu Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce. Great food, great talk, great audience!

The Tofu Summer Rolls and Soba Noodle dish from Noodles Every Day (Chronicle Books, 2009) are both highlighted here on my live segment with co-anchors Mark Hayes and Suchita on Good Day Atlanta (Fox 5 News)…check it out right here… Corinne Trang Prepares Hot Weather Fare Lastly, you can tune into my segment with Chadwick Boyd on Join Us At The Table – blogtalkradio.com What a trip this was…keep checking in with me for more on my book tour!