Greetings, it’s been to long. Life continues to accelerate and most days I’m not in the passenger seat. I have a backlog of things to post, but wanted to share a great time and big win and thank you all for the help.
In July, I posted about my new BelFab that I’m loving. In September we had our annual “neighborhood ” bbq competition, 2000 people came and 18 teams entered. My BelFab was not the biggest or nicest rig there. But, last year my team competed with 5 Weber Kettles and two Traegers, so we weren’t complaining.
This contest is not sanctioned, all prize money goes to charity, it’s really just for a real blast drinking beers with people who share a passion …….. and bragging rights. Events are; Chefs Choice (wow other teams with one bite, teams choose winner), Ribs (blind taste by judge panel), and peoples choice (feed 2000 people a taste, they vote winner).
Based on interactions here on SMF and a lot of inspiration here as well our team went with the surf and turf lumpia for chefs choice, but added some lime zest, garlic herb potatoes and brown butter fried sage https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/surf-n-turf-re-imagined.313927/
For peoples choice we went with the Birria I was working on for a while, but added beer to the Braise recipe on this thread.
www.smokingmeatforums.com
My Ribs guys followed advice offered by
thirdeye
and had a great showing. When the final results were in we came out 4th in ribs, 4th in peoples choice, and first place in Chefs Choice (which is the big one for this contest) and results in the coveted Waynewood pig that’s sits out on my front lawn until I defend it next year….my wife loves it
Great time, lots of great food and memories, and really all because of hanging out on SMF. So thank you guys. Enough talk, here’s some pics.
Team Practice before the event, loving the flattop option on the BelFab
Event Day;
120 pounds of beef shoulder roll
Set up and prep
Onto the BelFab post trimming.
Pulled when IT hit 165 and into the braise sometime after Sunrise
Followed by a morning beer and breakfast
Onto cook and plating of Surf N Turf for 1100 entry
By about noonish the meat was fall apart tender and we’re getting Birria ready for the Peoples Choice rush, with some help from the kids!
And Sweet Victory!
Now the pig is part of our Halloween decorations;
Thanks if you hung in there! Thanks for your friendship and mentorship if you post here!
Updated Surf N Turf Lumpia recipe:
1) Well-seasoned Tri-Tip (or other Great Red Meat) Cooked to taste. We
tested a lot, but Tri-Tip reverse seared to Med Rare was our favorite,
rested in smoked Wagyu tallow and butcher wrapped.
2) Reduced Red Wine Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 x Medium Carrot Chopped
2 x Celery Stalks Chopped
1 x Medium Yellow Onion rough Chop
7 x Garlic Cloves Crushed
2 x Tblspns Tomato Paste
3 x Cups Beef Broth
1 x Cup Dry Red Wine
¼ x Cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 x Bay Leaves
1 x Tblspn Fresh Rosemary
1x Tblspn Fresh Thyme
Kosher Salt/Cracked Black Pepper to taste (start w/1/2 Teaspoon Each)
4 or so x Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (to taste)
Directions:
- Large Sauce Pan over medium High Heat, warm a few tablespoons of
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add Carrots, Onion, and Celery cook 6-8 Minutes or
until they start to brown.
- Add garlic and cook 1-2 Minutes until fragrant, DO NOT Burn!
- Reduce heat to low medium
- Add Broth, wine, Vinegar, bay leaves, rosemary and 1.2 Teaspn
Salt/pepper.
- Bring to Boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 30-45 Min until
liquid is at about 3/4 Cup(without the Veggies).
- Once liquid is at about 3/4 Cup remove from heat and strain out over
sauce pan to remove veggies and leave only liquid. Use spoon and press
garlic, celery, etc. Only liquid in sauce pan. Throw out veggies.
- Place liquid back on low med to low heat. Start adding one table
spoon of butter at a time until it is to taste. S&P to taste.
- Remove from heat.
3) Bang Bang Shrimp:
Sauce Ingredients (multiply by 2):
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 5 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (PF Changs was our favorite)
• 2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon crystalized lime, or to taste (this part is important to
get right)
Sauce Directions:
• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon.
Cover and set aside until ready to use, plastic squirt bottle.
4) Bang Bang Shrimp Directions:
Bang Bang Shrimp (Marinade shrimp submerged in Buttermilk 1 hour before
cooking).
FOR THE BREADING:
• 1 lb frozen, raw shrimp (thawed) or fresh, shelled and deveined,
patted dry. We used Wild Caught Argentine Red Shrimp and felt they held up
in flavor and structure the best.
• 2 cup Corn Starch
• 1 ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 11/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder or Ancho Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
• Preheat pan or flattop to 350°F. Place pan with duck fat or neutral
oil to reach 350 temp, should be enough fat to coat ½ shrimp.
• In a large ziploc bag, combine starch, panko, salt, pepper, onion
powder, garlic. Zip closed and shake until mixed.
• Remove shrimp after marinade, drop into the ziploc bag and shake a
few times. Alternate is pace in bowl and cover in cornstarch mix.
• Set mixture next to cooking area.
• Place shrimp in fat once temp is 350. Work in batches skimming in
between to maintain temp.
a. I liked using duck fat to fry, others liked peanut or canola oil
better.
b. Place shrimp on cooling rack to drip off excess oil/fat
5) Brown Butter Fried Sage
Ingredients
• ½ Cup unsalted butter
• 24is fresh sage leaves
Directions
• Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. When it
begins to foam, add the sage leaves and gently fry until crisp, 2 to 3
minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on a paper towel.
6) Gordon Ramsey Garlic Herb Potatoes
Build Lumpia:
Ingredients:
• Tri Tip Slice sliced into Bite Size
• Bang Bang Shrimp cut in half, maybe thirds depending on size
• Reduced Red Wine Sauce
• Bang Bang Sauce
• Smoked Gouda, sliced into thin pieces roughly matching the size of
Tri Tip Bites
• Lumpia wrappers
• Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes
• Brown Butter Sage
• Fresh Parsley
• Egg wash (3 Eggs and 3 Tblspn Milk)
Directions:
• Set out lumpia wraps
• Place Piece of Smoked Ghouda down
• Top with 2 bites of the Tri Tip
• Followed by drizzle of Red Wine Sauce
• Followed by Parsley
• Sprinkle chopped parsley
• Place Bang Bang Shrimp Bites on top of each piece of Meat
• Drizzle those with bang Bang Sauce
• Fold bottom corner over center mixture
• Fold two side corners over center Mixture
• Roll up to the top corner tightly
• Fry in Duck Fat (or neutral oil) at 350 until Golden Brown
• Place on cooling rack
To Serve:
• For the competition, or if I was doing as an appetizer, cut rolls in
half or thirds. Place on up of a dollop of garlic herb mashed potatoes with
the roll standing upright. Then another small dalop of the potatoes followed
by a drizzle of the red wine sauce and topped with the butter fried sage.
The sage is actually really important, just like the lime bang bang sauce is
to help balance/freshen and cut the fat & richness in the dish.
• I also practiced this recipe a lot as we refined it and for a few
diner parties I served them whole on top of the potatoes, then you’d sprinkled with
the fried sage liberally over top, telling everyone to scoop the potatoes with the roll and
include the sage in each bite. For this option you need to make more sage.
In July, I posted about my new BelFab that I’m loving. In September we had our annual “neighborhood ” bbq competition, 2000 people came and 18 teams entered. My BelFab was not the biggest or nicest rig there. But, last year my team competed with 5 Weber Kettles and two Traegers, so we weren’t complaining.
This contest is not sanctioned, all prize money goes to charity, it’s really just for a real blast drinking beers with people who share a passion …….. and bragging rights. Events are; Chefs Choice (wow other teams with one bite, teams choose winner), Ribs (blind taste by judge panel), and peoples choice (feed 2000 people a taste, they vote winner).
Based on interactions here on SMF and a lot of inspiration here as well our team went with the surf and turf lumpia for chefs choice, but added some lime zest, garlic herb potatoes and brown butter fried sage https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/surf-n-turf-re-imagined.313927/
For peoples choice we went with the Birria I was working on for a while, but added beer to the Braise recipe on this thread.
Smoked Birria & other Stuff
I’ve been been a bit slow lately, life has gone and become hectic again. However, I have become fascinated with Birria Tacos on YouTube thanks to @BrianGSDTexoma last September with his beef cheek Birria followed up by Oxtail. They looked incredible and I had a chance to try some on a work trip...

My Ribs guys followed advice offered by


Great time, lots of great food and memories, and really all because of hanging out on SMF. So thank you guys. Enough talk, here’s some pics.
Team Practice before the event, loving the flattop option on the BelFab
Event Day;
120 pounds of beef shoulder roll
Set up and prep
Onto the BelFab post trimming.
Pulled when IT hit 165 and into the braise sometime after Sunrise
Followed by a morning beer and breakfast
Onto cook and plating of Surf N Turf for 1100 entry
By about noonish the meat was fall apart tender and we’re getting Birria ready for the Peoples Choice rush, with some help from the kids!
And Sweet Victory!
Now the pig is part of our Halloween decorations;
Thanks if you hung in there! Thanks for your friendship and mentorship if you post here!
Updated Surf N Turf Lumpia recipe:
1) Well-seasoned Tri-Tip (or other Great Red Meat) Cooked to taste. We
tested a lot, but Tri-Tip reverse seared to Med Rare was our favorite,
rested in smoked Wagyu tallow and butcher wrapped.
2) Reduced Red Wine Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 x Medium Carrot Chopped
2 x Celery Stalks Chopped
1 x Medium Yellow Onion rough Chop
7 x Garlic Cloves Crushed
2 x Tblspns Tomato Paste
3 x Cups Beef Broth
1 x Cup Dry Red Wine
¼ x Cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 x Bay Leaves
1 x Tblspn Fresh Rosemary
1x Tblspn Fresh Thyme
Kosher Salt/Cracked Black Pepper to taste (start w/1/2 Teaspoon Each)
4 or so x Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (to taste)
Directions:
- Large Sauce Pan over medium High Heat, warm a few tablespoons of
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add Carrots, Onion, and Celery cook 6-8 Minutes or
until they start to brown.
- Add garlic and cook 1-2 Minutes until fragrant, DO NOT Burn!
- Reduce heat to low medium
- Add Broth, wine, Vinegar, bay leaves, rosemary and 1.2 Teaspn
Salt/pepper.
- Bring to Boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 30-45 Min until
liquid is at about 3/4 Cup(without the Veggies).
- Once liquid is at about 3/4 Cup remove from heat and strain out over
sauce pan to remove veggies and leave only liquid. Use spoon and press
garlic, celery, etc. Only liquid in sauce pan. Throw out veggies.
- Place liquid back on low med to low heat. Start adding one table
spoon of butter at a time until it is to taste. S&P to taste.
- Remove from heat.
3) Bang Bang Shrimp:
Sauce Ingredients (multiply by 2):
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 5 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (PF Changs was our favorite)
• 2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon crystalized lime, or to taste (this part is important to
get right)
Sauce Directions:
• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon.
Cover and set aside until ready to use, plastic squirt bottle.
4) Bang Bang Shrimp Directions:
Bang Bang Shrimp (Marinade shrimp submerged in Buttermilk 1 hour before
cooking).
FOR THE BREADING:
• 1 lb frozen, raw shrimp (thawed) or fresh, shelled and deveined,
patted dry. We used Wild Caught Argentine Red Shrimp and felt they held up
in flavor and structure the best.
• 2 cup Corn Starch
• 1 ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 11/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder or Ancho Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
• Preheat pan or flattop to 350°F. Place pan with duck fat or neutral
oil to reach 350 temp, should be enough fat to coat ½ shrimp.
• In a large ziploc bag, combine starch, panko, salt, pepper, onion
powder, garlic. Zip closed and shake until mixed.
• Remove shrimp after marinade, drop into the ziploc bag and shake a
few times. Alternate is pace in bowl and cover in cornstarch mix.
• Set mixture next to cooking area.
• Place shrimp in fat once temp is 350. Work in batches skimming in
between to maintain temp.
a. I liked using duck fat to fry, others liked peanut or canola oil
better.
b. Place shrimp on cooling rack to drip off excess oil/fat
5) Brown Butter Fried Sage
Ingredients
• ½ Cup unsalted butter
• 24is fresh sage leaves
Directions
• Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. When it
begins to foam, add the sage leaves and gently fry until crisp, 2 to 3
minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on a paper towel.
6) Gordon Ramsey Garlic Herb Potatoes
Build Lumpia:
Ingredients:
• Tri Tip Slice sliced into Bite Size
• Bang Bang Shrimp cut in half, maybe thirds depending on size
• Reduced Red Wine Sauce
• Bang Bang Sauce
• Smoked Gouda, sliced into thin pieces roughly matching the size of
Tri Tip Bites
• Lumpia wrappers
• Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes
• Brown Butter Sage
• Fresh Parsley
• Egg wash (3 Eggs and 3 Tblspn Milk)
Directions:
• Set out lumpia wraps
• Place Piece of Smoked Ghouda down
• Top with 2 bites of the Tri Tip
• Followed by drizzle of Red Wine Sauce
• Followed by Parsley
• Sprinkle chopped parsley
• Place Bang Bang Shrimp Bites on top of each piece of Meat
• Drizzle those with bang Bang Sauce
• Fold bottom corner over center mixture
• Fold two side corners over center Mixture
• Roll up to the top corner tightly
• Fry in Duck Fat (or neutral oil) at 350 until Golden Brown
• Place on cooling rack
To Serve:
• For the competition, or if I was doing as an appetizer, cut rolls in
half or thirds. Place on up of a dollop of garlic herb mashed potatoes with
the roll standing upright. Then another small dalop of the potatoes followed
by a drizzle of the red wine sauce and topped with the butter fried sage.
The sage is actually really important, just like the lime bang bang sauce is
to help balance/freshen and cut the fat & richness in the dish.
• I also practiced this recipe a lot as we refined it and for a few
diner parties I served them whole on top of the potatoes, then you’d sprinkled with
the fried sage liberally over top, telling everyone to scoop the potatoes with the roll and
include the sage in each bite. For this option you need to make more sage.
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