Give back to nature: Help with Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge cleanup!
Many times, we like to get into the outdoors to escape our normal lives. If you’re like me, you find that being outside and enjoying nature gives us more than just sensory pleasure. It feeds and nurtures our souls.
With nature being so generous to us, it’s a pretty good idea to give back, wouldn’t you say? The Oklahoma City Outdoor Network is offering just such an opportunity. Check out the information I’ve posted below, and if you have the time, head on down, enjoy some free grub and help keep the refuge clean (there’s a link showing where this place is if you don’t already know).
Saturday, April 18
8:30am – 1:00pm
A Free Lunch will be served after the cleanup
The OKC Outdoor Network will have people in canoes/kayaks with trash bags (on the water) cleaning up the river that runs thru Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge
We will also have people from the OKC Outdoor Network
working the cleanup from land
IF….you would like to participate in this cleanup
just respond to this email
and let us know if you will be participating
by: Canoe/Kayak
or by Land (on foot)
and also…how many people you expect to bring with you
* If by chance the water level is too low to cleanup by boat
the boaters will move to the land…to help with the cleanup there !!!!
For more information on this event, e-mail at okcon@okcoutdoornetwork.org
Can you dig some brisket?
Thanks to Polynesian hunters of yore, who in their infinite cleverness endeavored to toss their daily kill into a pit of fire — cover it with rocks and dirt — and unearth for the next day’s meal, the barbecue universe was born. In homage to those fine gents and their bone-based body piercings, my good friend and colleague Jesse Olivarez and I recently dug our own pit for an afternoon barbecue.
To summarize, we did this:
Dug a hole approximately 3 feet deep by two feet wide, dropped bricks into the bottom of the pit, burned 4 cubic feet of pecan wood down to embers, and used three bricks set on their side to work as an altar for the object of our worship: a 9-pound brisket.
The brisket was trimmed, then given an light mustard coating. A rub was applied (recipe below) then the brisket was put in foil with a little apple juice and butter. After wrapping it tight in the foil and placing it in a roasting pan with handles, the whole bundle of joy was wrapped in water-soaked newspaper (one saved from last week, of course). Then we covered the hole with a piece of plywood and covered it with dirt, making sure the pit was airtight. Sixteen hours later, we exhumed the beef and ate…and ate…and ate…and ate.
Brisket rub:
1 cup premium light red chile blend
½ cup paprika
½ cup garlic powder
¼ cup Kosher salt
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup light brown sugar
Gastronomical Trainwreck Scheduled in Catoosa Saturday
The tables will be turned in the barbecuesphere tomorrow in Tulsa. Rather than pigs snorking down on feed to be fattened for a future in falling-off-the-fork fare, it’ll be the humans getting a facefull of feed.
The Cherokee Casino hosts the World Barbecue Eating Championship where $10,000 will go to the man, woman or child who can take down the most pork sandies from Runt’s Barbecue of Broken Arrow.
This a Major League Eating/International Federation of Competitive Eating certified event, so come on out to see who from the Gong Show-level cast of characters will compete in the Casino’s poker room.
Sorry, registration has closed, but who can resist this kind of gluttony in action. And watch out for those reversals, they won’t be pretty with barbecue sauce.
Forks fly at 1 p.m. 777 W. Cherokee St., in Catoosa.
Gas or charcoal?
I say neither! In a perfect world, we’d all be filling our backyard barbecue with wood and nothing else. Yes, it’s a little more difficult to find. Yes, it burns hotter and faster. But it brings the flavor.
Between charcoal and gas, I choose gas. Both are strictly for convenience and gas is a heckuva lot easier than charcoal. And there’s less cleanup.
My propane barbecue has a grate between the flame and grills, where I place soaked wood chunks and/or chips. This way I get at least a little of that good smoky flavor.
Ah, but what kind of wood? It’s a matter of prefence. I don’t much like mesquite, it’s just an overgrown weed after all, and hickory is fair. For me, it’s pecan wood every time.
Where there’s smoke…
Spending time outdoors suggests activity. Summer’s too hot to be runnin’ around. So, while some folks hike and bike in the great outdoors, some of us seek more sedentary activities under the sun. Hiking and biking for the Backroads crowd. Running and sunning for all you hardbodies. Birding and trainspotting for the eclectic company.
Regardless your shape, size, race, color or creed, we all gotta eat. And if you wanna eat good, learn to cook — preferably outside.
Whether you call it barbecue, barbacoa, barby, braai, BBQ, churrasco, bulgogi, yakiniku or you smoke with indirect heat, water pan or (gasp) indoor contraption, we’ll discuss it, share methods, recipes and anecdotes.
First order or business: When basting or mopping meat, avoid tomato-based sauce. Tomato is bitter when it burns, as you would be, and can ruin a good piece of meat. Try mustard-vinegar based bastes or mopping on a little mix of apple juice and Lousiana hot sauce instead. Pour on the thick stuff just as you remove the object of your desire from the grill or serve it on the side. I like mine warmed up a little.
David Cathey,
Eater
