Barbecue

DURHAM, N. C. -- Someday there could be a Q near you. But for now, Scott Howell and his two partners are focusing the growth of their outstanding Q-Shack barbecue joints in the South. Howell, 40, earned celebrity chef status here with the upscale Nana's, one of the area's foodie favorites. After he bought the building that Nana's is in, he found himself with additional space and decided to go downscale in price and ambience, but certainly not in quality. "We wanted to do a place where we would like to eat -- the guys I work with and the guys that cook around here," he said.

It t ook about 12 years, lots of hard work, and a healthy sense of youthful invincibility — seasoned with a dash of arrogance — for Andy Husbands and Chris Hart to win 30 Kansas City Barbecue Society championships, hundreds of barbecue ribbons, and the biggest prize of them all, the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue, held every October in Lynchburg, Tenn. And with the help of our IQUE barbecue teammates (our name is I que, as in "I barbecue"), we had more fun than we might even be able to remember.

New Hampshire’s official state barbecue championship is in full swing in Merrimack. The Rockin’ Ribfest runs Friday through Sunday on the grounds of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack. Organized by the Rotary Club of Nashua West, it includes grilling and barbeque competitions in several categories, with the winner of the state championship qualifying for other contests open only to state champs. The money raised through admission tickets goes to charity.

Serves 8 Andy Husbands and Chris Hart write that people eat with their eyes first, so when they're in competitions, their team uses really big shrimp. In industry talk, standard cocktail-size shrimp are called 16/20, which means 16 to 20 per pound, each weighing an ounce or less. This recipe calls for U4s, meaning there are under 4 per pound. You can also use jumbo shrimp.

Barbecue around Boston is an increasingly cut-throat competition, thanks to fan favorites like Redbones in Somerville, Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington, the Village Smokehouse in Brookline, and most recently, Blackstrap BBQ in Winthrop. Even so, Larry J's House of Q in Chelsea, which opened in September 2010, may be paving new ground, says namesake Larry Jimerson. "North of Boston the only things you had is pizza and Chinese food as far as take-out, and you can't eat a sub for dinner every day," says the owner.

Military families will join President Barack Obama and his family for an Independence Day barbecue at the White House. They’ll be joined by staff from throughout the administration and their families for a concert, followed by a view of the fireworks from the South Lawn. This is the third year the first family has honored military heroes and their families with the July Fourth barbecue, concert and fireworks. As he has in the past, the president will deliver remarks during the celebration.

The best barbecue in America hails from...Massachusetts? That's the result of the annual Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., where Abington's Smokin Hoggz BBQ took the top prize over the weekend. It's also the second time in three years a local outfit has won the competition. In 2009, Hopkinton's I-Que won. Guess we're not so clueless about proper BBQ techniques after all. Forbes contributor Larry Olmsted was a judge at the event, and writes the following: With two big wins in three years, Massachusetts...

SHREVEPORT, La. — Seven teenagers from two families were splashing around in the shallow waters of the Red River when one of them stepped off a slippery ledge and plummeted into much deeper water. The others tried to save the boy even though none of them could swim, but they too were swallowed by the water, some 20 to 30 feet deep. Their relatives, who couldn’t swim, either, looked on helplessly as six struggling teens screamed for help, then vanished and drowned on Monday afternoon.

Q. Where was barbecue born? A. Americans, especially in the South and Texas, like to think barbecue is uniquely American. While Americans practice the low heat, long hours, smoking barbecue more than anyone else, it's all over. In the 1400s, Cooke and Columbus discovered islands in the Caribbean where the Indians put meat on a green wood frame and smoked it slowly and called it barbacoa. Then of course Columbus and his folks picked it up. But slow cooking has been around since the Middle Ages.

"Fame is a fickle food / Upon a shifting plate. " - Emily Dickinson We live in the era of the celebrity chef. What does fame mean for someone who cooks for a living? It creates an automatic level of interest in his or her restaurants. It also creates an automatic level of expectation - and anticipation, when the restaurant in question specializes in a beloved American classic like barbecue or burgers. Tiffani Faison is a chef more people know from her turn on "Top Chef" than in kitchens of restaurants such as Rocca, o ya, and Straight...

There are a number of factors that affect a given dish, such as the fat content of the pork, the thickness of a rack of ribs, the humidity inside your smoker, and the elevation at which you cook. You will learn to rely on your senses when a dish is perfectly done. You'll know by sight when coals are hot enough to start cooking, by touch when a steak is ready, by smell when you left that fish in the smoker too long. In the design of all vertical smokers most commonly used at home, the charcoal fire sits directly beneath the grates holding the food being cooked.

"Our freezer is where foodstuffs — and I use the term loosely — go to die," says Susan Mintz of Arlington. "Most of the items in there are very, very old, purchased for some specific purpose and then abandoned. " The cold truth is that, like life, most freezers house a combo of the good, the bad, the aspirational, and the functional. Many people fill their freezers with ingredients for quick and easy meals that may or may not ever make it to the table. Others stock up on seasonal foods for the long winter, but come spring, when beautiful, local produce returns to stores,...

PICK OF THE DAY All was not revealed True to its name, the Preservation Society of Newport County has a costume collection that includes pieces dating to the early 19th century. "The Victorian Wardrobe Revealed, 1840-1900" features this circa 1860 embroidered silk dress and a walking suit by Parisian couturier Charles Frederick Worth. Daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Nov. 16 (except June 21-24). $14.50, $5.50 ages 6-17. Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Ave., Newport, R.I. 401-847-1000.

"Fame is a fickle food / Upon a shifting plate. " - Emily Dickinson We live in the era of the celebrity chef. What does fame mean for someone who cooks for a living? It creates an automatic level of interest in his or her restaurants. It also creates an automatic level of expectation - and anticipation, when the restaurant in question specializes in a beloved American classic like barbecue or burgers. Tiffani Faison is a chef more people know from her turn on "Top Chef" than in kitchens of restaurants such as Rocca, o ya, and Straight Wharf.

LEXINGTON, S.C. – Mitt Romney stepped off his campaign bus here tonight, making an impromptu stop at a barbecue restaurant he visited four years ago because, as he put it, he wanted to "come back to the scene of delicious food. " "That's what Yankees feel barbecue is -- which is a hot dog or hamburger on the grill," Romney told the owner, Robin Hudson, as they walked toward the smokehouse outside the restaurant. "But you know barbecue is manufactured right in a smokehouse like this.

Barbecue around Boston is an increasingly cut-throat competition, thanks to fan favorites like Redbones in Somerville, Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington, the Village Smokehouse in Brookline, and most recently, Blackstrap BBQ in Winthrop. Even so, Larry J's House of Q in Chelsea, which opened in September 2010, may be paving new ground, says namesake Larry Jimerson. "North of Boston the only things you had is pizza and Chinese food as far as take-out, and you can't eat a sub for dinner every day," says the owner.

Chicken legs are often overlooked in favor of their leaner counterpart, boneless, skinless breasts. Legs have more flavor and usually cost much less pound for pound. For this dish, choose leg quarters, which means the legs and thighs are attached. Simmer them in a quick cacciatore, and while the dish is bubbling away in the oven, put on a pot of rice. Ladle the sauce over the rice, and top each portion with a leg. Pour a glass of Chianti, set aside some of the chicken for tomorrow, and settle in for a nice meal.

TUSCALOOSA - The 5-year-old had come all the way from Massachusetts in a day, his daddy not giving up the dream of a dinner of slow-smoked ribs at the original home of Dreamland Bar-B-Que, where the only side served with a slab is white bread. Shortly before closing, the boy took his first few bites of a thick, juicy rib and - without an "mmmm" of appreciation or "yeow!" of consternation - determined it was too spicy for his tender tongue. He picked up his root beer and took a long pull.

The best barbecue in America hails from...Massachusetts? That's the result of the annual Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., where Abington's Smokin Hoggz BBQ took the top prize over the weekend. It's also the second time in three years a local outfit has won the competition. In 2009, Hopkinton's I-Que won. Guess we're not so clueless about proper BBQ techniques after all. Forbes contributor Larry Olmsted was a judge at the event, and writes the following: With two big wins in three years, Massachusetts barbecue has...

If there is an element of Boston that questions how or where a Texas-style barbecue joint could fit into this region of lobster, shrimp, and chowder, you won't find Tiffani Faison included among the skeptics. And that's not just because the chef, at 35 a veteran on the Boston food scene who was a runner-up on the first season of "Top Chef," happens to be opening a Texas-style barbecue joint here. "It's because I know what it's like to feel out of place but know deep down inside that when people got to know me they'd get me," she says.