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42
Buffalo Bill and the Indians
A grand barbecueWilliam F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was one of America’s first self-invented
Wild West heroes and one of Kansas’ earliest white
residents. Young Bill Cody’s family settled in the
Leavenworth area in 1853. His father, Isaac Cody,
was a barbecue cook, and included in William
Cody’s 1879 autobiography, The Life and Adventures
of Buffalo Bill, are accounts of barbecue festivities
hosted by his family.
During the summer of 1853 we lived in our little log
house, and father continued to trade with the Indians,
who became very friendly; hardly a day passed without
a social visit from them. I spent a great deal of time
with the Indian boys, who taught me how to shoot with
the bow and arrow, at which I became quite expert. I
also took part in all their sports, and learned to talk the
Kickapoo language to some extent.
Father desired to express his friendship for these Indians,
and accordingly arranged a grand barbecue for them. He
invited them all to be present on a certain day, which they
were; he then presented them with two fat beeves, to be
killed and cooked in the various Indian styles. Mother made
several large boilers full of coffee, which she gave to them,
together with sugar and bread. There were about two hundred
43
WHA
T W
E AR
E LI
STEN
ING
TO: M
elissa
Wate
rs, m
anag
er of
Oklah
oma J
oe’s c
aterin
g serv
ice, is
listen
ing to
the G
ratefu
l Dea
d — sp
ecific
ally “
Three
from
the V
ault”
and “
Ameri
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.” Co
mpan
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ully P
orter?
A grand barbecue
Heroes of WestportMost Kansas Citians know that the most important Civil War battle
west of the Mississippi was the Battle of Westport, fought primarily on
the ground that is now Loose Park, just south of the Plaza. What many
Kansas Citians don’t know is that William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his
friend James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok both participated in the battle.
Cody was a private in the 7th Kansas Cavalry — known as “Jennison’s
Jayhawkers” —, and Hickok was a scout and sharpshooter for Gen.
Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Union forces. Wild Bill was already
quite familiar with the area, having staked a claim in
1857 on 160 acres near what is
now the corner of
83rd and Clare Road,
in Lenexa. He also
served as constable
of Monticello
Township.
From left: Wild Bill, Texas Jack, and Buffalo Bill
Indians in attendance at the feast, and they all
enjoyed and appreciated it. In the evening they had
one of their grand fantastic war dances, which
greatly amused me, it being the first sight of the
kind I had ever witnessed.
My Uncle Elijah and quite a large number of
gentlemen and ladies came over from Weston to
attend the entertainment. The Indians returned
to their homes well satisfied.
44
with the Coffee KingAt once cordially communal and intensely intimate, the sharing of a cup
of coffee is an ancient rite that creates, re-creates and celebrates human
relationships.
This poetic perspective is offered up, over a cup of coffee, of course, by
Danny O’Neill, founder and president of The Roasterie, Kansas City’s premier
coffee company. Danny is as passionate about coffee as we are about
barbecue. We recently had a nice chat with Mr. O’Neill, during which he
reflected on both.
“Barbecue and coffee have a lot in common. Both are inherently social. Both
are best enjoyed with friends. And both are very egalitarian. They’re the
opposite of elitist. Even really good coffee is affordable and accessible.
“People will say to one another ‘Let’s have lunch sometime’ and it’s
understood that there’s a certain benign insincerity in putting that out
there. It’s like asking ‘How are you?’ It’s just something you say to express
goodwill. But saying ‘Let’s have coffee’ has a different connotation
altogether. You’re much more likely to follow through. Having coffee is less
of a commitment than lunch, but at the same time it’s a way of saying “I
really want to get to know you better.’
“When guests come to your house, what do you do? You make a pot of
coffee. Coffee is welcoming, comforting, and — in spite of the caffeine — it’s
relaxing.
“And even though coffee is very social, it’s also quite comforting and
contemplative, something you can enjoy by yourself. If you picture someone
sitting alone in their house drinking a scotch, and you almost feel sorry for
that person. It’s kind of a sad picture. The mood is lonely and somber, almost
A Cup of Joe
45
Danny O’Neill’s Smokin’ Cold Coffee:• 1oz.limejuice• 1teaspoonhoney
• 1sliceoffreshjalapeno• 2oz.toddycoffee(seerecipebelow)• ½cupice,plussomeadditional• 2oz.clubsoda
Thoroughlymixthelimejuiceandhoney.Pour
inmartinishakerandaddjalapeno,toddy
coffeeandice.Shake.Pouringlassandadd
clubsodaandadditionalicetotaste.Foran
additionalkickinthepantsaddoneounce
bourbon.
To make cold toddy coffee, addonepound
coarselygroundcoffeetoninecupsofwater
inacoldtoddycoffeemaker.Refrigeratefor
12–16hoursanddrain.
depressing. But picture someone at
home drinking coffee by themselves,
and the connotation is entirely
different. It feels quiet, restful,
reflective.
“Admittedly, coffee isn’t the first
thing you think of as a drink to
go with barbecue. That would be
beer, of course. Or maybe sweet
tea. But there are some cold
coffee drinks that are excellent
with barbecue. And coffee has
long been a popular secret
ingredient in prize-winning
barbecue rubs. Coffee adds
a complexity to a rub that
gives it that extra special
something.
“There’s absolutely no
doubt that Kansas City is
the Barbecue Capital of
the World. Here at the
Roasterie, we believe we’ve
helped make Kansas City a coffee capital as
well.”
The Roasterie’s master bean roaster, Norm
Killmon was recently honored with the first ever
lifetime achievement award by the Specialty
Coffee Association’s Roaster’s Guild for his
contributions to the coffee industry. This award
will henceforth be named the “Norm Killmon
Lifetime Achievement Award” and will be
presented annually to coffee roasters of
outstanding merit.
Kudos for Killmon
46
This step-by-step how-to describes basically the same process of making burnt
ends that our sponsored competition barbecue teams use. The exception
being that you’ll need to use your own smoker. Ours are generally full up. (If
you don’t have your own smoker, the folks at the Kansas City BBQ Store can
set you up.)
fig. 1 Start with a whole untrimmed brisket. Whole
briskets have two parts: the “flat” and the
“point.” The flat is the long, wide, flat-ish part
that makes up most of the brisket. The point
is the fatty lump of meat that sits on top and at the end of the flat. Burnt
ends are made from the point, so it’s important that you start with a whole,
untrimmed brisket. Be aware that many grocery stores only sell flats. If you’re
unsure, tell meat counter dude you need a whole brisket.
fig. 2Trim excess fat from the brisket. While you’re
doing this, notice where the point and the flat
are joined. Notice that the grain of the flat and
the grain of the point run perpendicular. This is
important, inasmuch as you will have to remove
the point from the flat later in the process.
fig. 3Season your brisket with a rub of your own
making (see recipe on page 7), or stop by the
Kansas City BBQ Store and choose from the
hundreds of rubs in our inventory. Seasoning
can be done anywhere from four to 24 hours
before you put your brisket in the smoker. Wrap
it in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge.
BACKyArd BArBeCue BAsICs
47
fig. 4About an hour before you start cooking, take
the brisket out of the fridge and let sit on your
kitchen countertop at room temperature for
about an hour. Once your smoker is all fired up,
put your brisket in and cook it low and slow,
at 225 degrees, for about an hour-and-a-half
per pound. When the internal temp of the flat
reaches 160 degrees, pull it from the smoker,
quickly wrap it in aluminum foil and return it
to the smoker. Let it continue to cook until the
internal temp reaches 195 degrees. Remove it from the smoker and let it rest
in the foil for an hour on your kitchen countertop. Then wrap in a big beach
towel or two and put it in a picnic cooler and close it tight.
fig. 5While your brisket is cooking, chop some fresh
garlic, onion (and perhaps a slice or two of
pickled jalapeno pepper). In a stock pot, sauté
the onion in a little butter until golden brown.
Then add one quart beef stock, together with the garlic and let simmer
for about thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, remove from heat, carefully
strain the stock into a sauce pan. Stir in one-and-a-half cups of your favorite
barbecue sauce. Return the pan to the stove and keep warm.
BACKyArd BArBeCue BAsICsBrisket & Burnt ends101
WHA
T W
E AR
E LI
STEN
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TO: D
an H
athaw
ay, m
anag
er of
The K
ansas
City
BBQ
Store
, is lis
tening
to C
hris K
night
. “It’s
my B
BQ co
ntest
soun
dtrack
.”
49
some lIKe It hotOn May 16, 2010, at 11:26 a.m. TV talk show
host and really tall redhead, Conan O’Brien
tweeted his Twitter followers this message:
I’m in KC. I like my BBQ like I like my
women. HOT. Also, rubbed with molasses,
coffee grounds and cayenne.
We’d love to hear from anybody who has
tried the molasses, coffee grounds, and
cayenne formula in making barbecue. Post
your experience on our Facebook page.
We’d also like to hear from any married
men who have made a remark similar to
Conan’s and have lived to tell about it.
WHA
T W
E AR
E LI
STEN
ING
TO: .S
tepha
nie W
ilson,
Kans
as Ci
ty BB
Q St
ore st
aff, is
listen
ing to
The K
eliha
ns, a
local
Irish
rock
band
tasty accompanimentsside dishes
up on the roofOur Facebook friend,
Trent Citrano, posted
this photo of himself on
our Facebook page last
month. Trent wanted us
to see that he wore his
Oklahoma Joe’s T-shirt
to a rooftop barbecue
party in Yokohama,
Japan, where he is the
principal of the St. Maur
International School. If
you’ve got a photo of
yourself wearing Joe’s
garb in an exotic locale,
post it on Facebook for all
to see.
410
Imagine the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards,
and Woodstock all cooked up into one big
shindig. Awesome, right? You got your intense
competition, your prestigious prizes, your
rock ‘n’ roll and your, uh, adult beverages. All
the ingredients for a primo event. Now add
barbecue into the mix. Now you’ve got: THE.
BEST. PARTY. EVER. You’ve got the American
Royal Barbecue.
Founded in 1980, the American Royal
Barbecue is the biggest and most prestigious
barbecue contest in the world. Nearly 500
teams compete in the Royal Open, and
in the Invitational more than 120 elite
championship teams go head-to-head for
the biggest, baddest, barbecue bragging
rights of all.
This year, on October 1-3, Slaughterhouse
Five — the barbecue team that gave
rise to Oklahoma Joe’s restaurants —
is celebrating its 20th consecutive
competition at the Royal.
Slaughterhouse five Competition BBQ team
Barbecue Royalty
We asked a number of top cooks and Kansas Citians for their
reflections on the Royal:
“There is no dispute that Kansas City is the barbecue
capital of the world,” says Rick Hughes, President and CEO
of the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association.
“With more than a hundred barbecue joints and being host to
the largest barbecue contest in the world, barbecue is in
our DNA.”411
“The American Royal is my favorite contest of all time,” says
Rod Gray, of the championship barbecue team Pellet Envy. “If
you are lucky enough to cook in the Invitational, you are
cooking against true champions from all over our great nation.”
Famed barbecue chef, cookbook author, and TV personality, Ray
Lampe, says “The American Royal is the top of the mountain for
barbecue cooks. If you go to Oklahoma Joes on the Thursday
before the event you’ll see many of the top names in barbecue
having lunch.”
“I first attended the American Royal Barbecue in 1987 and
can say that this event has helped shape my life,” says Joe
Davidson, co-founder and former co-owner of Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ
& Catering, “I never dreamed I would someday be Grand Champion
at the Invitational. That win is still atop my list of proudest
wins. The Royal is truly an American barbecue tradition.”
“The American Royal contest has been the cornerstone that has
developed competition barbecue into one of the most popular
‘sports’ in the United States over the last 25 years,” says
Chris Marks, of Kansas City’s Three Little Pigs barbecue team
(the winningest team in Royal history). “The American Royal
has helped define Kansas City barbecue as the world’s most
recognized style of barbecue.”
Chris Lilly, champion barbecue cook, TV personality and VP
of the legendary Big Bob Gibson’s barbecue joint in Decatur,
Alabama, says, “The American Royal is a celebration of a
distinct American foodway, quenching not only competitive
spirit but a sense of community
412
Number ONe with a bulletB
eginning backyard barbecue cooks are often intimidated
by the process of buying their first smoker. There are
lots of choices. Each smoker offers a unique range of
features and benefits and prices vary widely. Overly confident
and ambitious first timers can easily spend too much on a rig
that’s way too big. Stingy timid types tend to spend too little,
quickly finding themselves frustrated at the limits and poor
performance of their new equipment. Best thing to do is ask the
advice of an experienced and seasoned cook. And most likely
they’ll recommend the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). Not only
will they say it’s the best all-round smoker for beginners, they’ll
say it’s one of the best all-round smokers, period, no matter your
level of experience and expertise.
The Weber Smokey Mountain is a shining (and shiny) example of
design elegance and simplicity. Nicknamed “The Bullet” for its
cylindrical body and domed top (and bottom), the Weber Smokey
Mountain is pleasingly easy on the eyes and ridiculously easy
to operate. It may not cook as much meat as the big rigs, but it
more than holds its own in performance. The Bullet comes in
two sizes. The original 18.5-inch (diameter) version and the new
22.5-inch model. The original stands 41 inches high, and the
newer edition is 48 inches tall.
While it’s possible to make barbecue on a classic Weber kettle,
the kettle is made primarily for grilling, not smoking. (Let’s
review: Grilling = high heat, fast cook times. Barbecue = low
heat, slow cook times.) The WSM, however, is specially made to
cook low and slow. It’s air-tight design and quality construction
make for efficient and effective temperature control, critical to
producing tasty barbecue.
WSM owners are an enthusiastically loyal bunch. Rick Salmon,
one of the competition barbecue champions on staff at the
413
Number ONe with a bullet the weber Smokey Mountain
Kansas City BBQ Store is one of them. “I
like the Weber Smoky Mountain because
it is the best smoker for the money,” Rick
says. “It’s very versatile in that you can
cook barbecue on it, grill on it, or even
cook Memphis style on it. It is easy to
use, fuel efficient and needs very little
attention. With a little ingenuity you
can add extra shelves to it to increase
its capacity. It’s an excellent backyard
cooker, but at the same time can win
major barbecue competitions with it.”
Dan Hathaway, manager of the Kansas
City BBQ Store, and a competitive
barbecue champion in his own right,
agrees that the Bullet is one of the easiest
charcoal/wood burners to operate.
“Right out of the box you can fire it up
and achieve 6-8 hour cooks without a
lot of fire maintenance. For someone
just getting started in the backyard this
is perfect, because they’ll actually learn
how things cook, instead of learning
how not to ruin their food.”
Fans of the durable cooker have even
created a website devoted exclusively
to discussion and information exchange
regarding the smoker and its use. The
enormously utilitarian site — called “The
Virtual Bullet” www.virtualweberbullet.
com — offers cooking techniques,
recipes, FAQs, and more. WHA
T W
E AR
E LI
STEN
ING
TO: J
eff St
ehne
y, own
er, is
listen
ing th
e Okla
homa
-based
band
Cros
s Can
adian
Rag
weed
. “My
curre
nt fav
orite
song
is “B
lues f
or Yo
u” on
CD
“Back
to Tu
lsa-Li
ve an
d Lou
d at C
ain’s B
allroo
m”
415
whomp! there it is! By day Mitch Benjamin, 39, is a sales rep for
TaylorMade-adidas Golf, but by night — and
on weekends — Benjamin is a barbecue
sauce mixologist and entrepreneur. His new sauce Meat Mitch’s “Whomp!”
BBQ Sauce has just been released (and is on sale at the Kansas City BBQ
Store). We sat down with Mitch recently for a little Q&A:
How’d you get into barbecue?
It was out of self defense. My fiancée loved barbecue so much that she was
starting to eye up big dudes in overall’s with nicknames like “Stack” and “Big
Rig”. I had to react.
What’s your favorite barbecue experience?
The American Royal is our team’s favorite time of the year. We get fired up,
having the biggest, wildest, best party of the year, serving all of our friends
the very best food we can make along with all the beer, wine, and spirits
they can muster!
What’s your barbecue philosophy?
Have your recipes organized, know what everyone’s role is, don’t sway too
much from your original plan and don’t start playing quarters at midnight.
Everyone thinks their own sauce recipe is the best. How about yours?
Meat Mitch “Whomp” BBQ sauce was created to win BBQ competitions. It has
all the elements the judges are looking for, a beautiful glaze finish, a sweet,
rich, depth and character, and it finishes with a little kick that says “Hello,
Jim!”. My first production run of the sauce was on a Wednesday this past July,
by Friday we had set up camp at The Wild Blue BBQ State Championship in
Burlington, KS, and we walked away with the Grand Reserve Championship
trophy and never even cooked any of the meat, just poured the sauce on it.
WHOMP!
BBQ&A