backyard bbq

I was recently invited to a little backyard soiree. It was with a group of friends that try and get together a few times each year and catch up. With people off in different directions these days, and the way stories and/or news and/or gossip fly around in our tech obsessed world, it is refreshing to catch up in person.

The theme, if you will, for the BBQ was Everybody Is Needed. Quite ingenious if you ask me. The hosts kindly asked everyone to bring a little piece of something to the party, so if you didn't show up/bring your product, the meal would haven't been complete.

For example, somebody had to brings hamburger buns and somebody else the toppings. Whoa, need sour cream and bacon bits, that's where 'insert name' comes in. How about soda pop, that was so and so's job.

Besides catching up, which was great, it was hilarious to see things unravel. One person, who was in charge of buns, ended up being an hour late, but it was OK because the person in charge of condiments was two hours behind. We waited patiently (who wants to eat a plain hot dog) and it eventually all came together. I wish we could do this more, heck we even agreed on monthly gatherings at one point, but life always has something else for us to do.

Oh, and my job...dessert. Easy as apple bundt cake if you ask me. But you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

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deer and lamb meet grill

The heat has put a damper on my creative baking, and basically brought the bread oven to a halt. Somehow cranking ye ol' hot box up to 450 or 500 degrees when it's over 30 degrees outside seems foolish. What is a man to do? BBQ I suppose, but even that can feel hot when it's still hovering around 30 degrees in the evening. I digress. Hankering for some BBQ'd tubes of meat, a coin toss was had to decide between Spolumbo's offerings or Valbella's. Vabella won out, and after a quick stop in at Sunterra we had Venison Smokies and Moroccan Lamb.

The venison smokies are similar to your typical sausage. It has a wonderful smokie flavor, not overly spiced and no gameyness. It tasted equally as good coming from the microwave as it did off the grill. The lamb is a different beast all together (no pun intended) and I was the only homesteader to enjoy it. While part of the problem may be a general dislike for lamb by my fellow eaters, I actually found the spice mixed used steals away some of the true lamb flavor.

Biting into the lamb, you instantly notice the lack of snap you get from the venison (or most smokies for that matter), and pick up on the softer texture. Where a typical sausage has a dense interior, the lamb reminded me of blood sausage. I think it's almost unfair to judge the two on the same scale. The venison is so close to your typical sausage/smokie that the softer, lack of snap, lamb version almost sits limp in this comparison. I think if you were to eat the lamb by itself, with out a direct comparison, the difference wouldn't be as obvious. Regardless, both products are worth a shot, so if you want to splurge a bit, try them both like we did..just remember that these two smokies are from different leagues.

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beer can chicken

I've often wondered how the beer can chicken came about. Was it during some camping trip or the result of a backyard (albeit drunken) epiphany Did a BBQ expert have this tucked away for years, or maybe it was the imagination of a Michelin starred chef. Either way the idea is great. As long as you follow some simple steps, you'll end up with a delicious and moist bird.

I've learned that you should definitely put a rub on. The trick during this step is to rub both the outside and inside. If you can, try to put some spice under the skin as well. It will add to the overall flavor.

I can't say for sure if one beer is that much better than the next, but as a fan of Guinness, its always been my go to. As well, the cans are taller than your average beer which makes for a better base in my experience. Drink half the beer and cut the inside ring of the top out. Add a good amount (1/4 cup - 1/2 cup) of rub to the beer. Remember we are trying to get flavor everywhere!

Sit your friendly bird down on top of the beer can and head to the BBQ. Crank the heat on one side of the BBQ to high and place the bird on the opposite side. You want to cook this bird with indirect heat, with a rotation half way into cooking.

Even with that dark crust, the chicken came off perfectly. The meat, even the breasts, were super moist and finger lickin' good. I'd definitely recommend trying your hand at beer can chicken. Not only is it a fun way to cook your meal, the left overs make for excellent salads!

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sunday morning - bread and chicken

Prepping for the work week ahead, my usual Sunday morning revolves around baking bread and roasting off some chicken for lunches. While it may take a bit of dedication, it makes the week plan a little easier.


Step one is too wake up and starting mixing dough. If I sit down and pour a coffee or mix my breakfast smoothie, who knows when I'll get the dough going. After the bread is kneaded, espresso is quickly pulled, while I put in some laundry and make breakfast.


Step two is to pull out some marinated chicken pieces; this morning was 3 chicken breasts I had put in a bourbon spice mix, and fire up the BBQ. Even at 9 or 10 in the morning, the BBQ can somehow make me crave a beer. I imagine it would seem strange to the neighbors if they could see me in my pj's standing guard at the grill!

Step three is bake, bake, and bake.

Oh how good the house smells on a Sunday. Now it's time to slice the bread, shred the meat and maybe have another shot of espresso!

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elk, muskox, and bison burger mania.

As a regular regular of I’m Only Here for the Food, you would be pretty hard pressed not to notice all the burger shacks lately. The main problem with being enticed out to a restaurant, at least these restaurants, is that I don't live anyway close. If I lived in Vancouver I would definitely be out sampling the goods, but living 1400 or so kilometers away I'm left to drool on my keyboard.


Instead of sampling a few local establishments I decided to purchase some ground meat from Buffalo Valley. With a nice selection of game to choose from, I decided on bison, elk, and muskox.


Bison has always been fairly regular meat for me and it wasn’t out of the norm to make some bison burgers. I’ve prepared elk meat a few times but never as burgers, so that would be new. Musk Ox was new from the start, and I didn’t have any idea what taste to expect or how it would work in a burger.

It is quite easy to overcook these with their low fat content and almost every cook would say medium rare is the farthest you should go*. I find that on more occasions than not, people dry out their beef burgers, so with even less forgiving meat it's nice to BBQ my own to a nice juicy pink center.


I think I ended up cooking 16 burgers (not all for me ^--^) over a week-long period. Most of the meat was treated very simply with salt and pepper, but a few were stuffed with various cheeses (a la Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) while a couple were spiced up with garam masala. The elk and bison burgers were the least gamey of all and I have a feeling that many diners wouldn’t even wonder or speculate they weren’t eating beef. The muskox was a different story; it was so different that it is hard to explain. It was the best of all three and I can only describe it as rich; I will buy this again.

I almost always put a toppings platter together that includes; mushrooms, onions, pickles, lettuce, and tomato. With so many burgers made I started some serious deviations, like the first picture in todays post which received some fresh cilantro and salsa. Unfortunately I was not always on the ball with my camera and a few pictures didn't turn out. :(


* I realize the canadian government recommends you should cook ground beef until no pink is left and the juices run clear, but I like a juicy and tender burger which typically means a little pink. Plus I personally like to believe that with better processed meats, the possibility of contamination goes down. I've also eaten my share of street meats in Latin America with no ill affects. So please, don't follow my lead and cook your burgers until the juices run clear. :)

** One last thing - does it seem strange I remove some of the 'bun' so that I can sit toppings and/or the patty in the bun with greater ease. For some reason, I like a pocket for toppings and it keeps a loaded burger in check without the ingredients sliding out down your arm. Am I strange?

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