Barbecue

More than 60 chefs arrived in Bel Air pulling trailers loaded with grills, seasonings, marinades, rubs, injectors, utensils and — of course — meat. Downtown Bel Air will be sizzling during the 10th annual Maryland BBQ Bash, the annual street festival and competition with $12,500 in prizes. The two-day event, which opens Friday, has attracted the four-time world champion griller, several chefs with the coveted "pitmaster" title and dozens of others, all determined to take the state title.

For $3 a person, you can use the bathroom of Carol Hines' home on Winner St, across from Pimlico race course.  Hines decided to give entrepreneurship a try for the first time this year, one of many enterprises that pop up on Preakness day in the Park Heights and Pimlico neighborhoods.  Besides offering her restroom for Preakness attendees, Hines cooked up some of her best dishes, including jerk chicken, curry chicken and barbecue ribs. ...

In this video, President Obama and Maryland's senior  - sorry, make that junior - senator, Ben Cardin, pop into the Texas Ribs and BBQ in Clinton. You can read more about the president and senator's visit on the always informative Obama Foodorama website. At just about 1:05 in the video , a woman starts barking for some people to push some back some other people, including the Secret Service. Is she with the president, the restaurant the film crew?

In this video, President Obama and Maryland's senior  - sorry, make that junior - senator, Ben Cardin, pop into the Texas Ribs and BBQ in Clinton. You can read more about the president and senator's visit on the always informative Obama Foodorama website. At just about 1:05 in the video , a woman starts barking for some people to push some back some other people, including the Secret Service. Is she with the president, the restaurant the film crew?

Mission BBQ opened to the public on Sept. 19 in Glen Burnie. But hundreds of area firefighters, police officers and military personnel had already had a taste of the new restaurant's North Carolina pulled pork, St. Louis spare ribs and Texas-style whole link sausage. The owners of Mission BBQ, Bill Kraus and Steven Newton, ran a preview week of fundraisers for the Anne Arundel County fire and police departments as well as the Wounded Warrior Project, a national organization benefiting injured service personnel.

On Nov. 19, 1884, a large crowd of Democrats gathered for the "Barbecue at Belair," celebrating the presidential election of Grover Cleveland. The barbecue was threatened by persistent rains, but 400 to 500 people came to the fairgrounds. Everyone was well fed, and "many of them after polishing the bones carried them home as souvenirs of the first democratic barbecue. ... After the feasting was over the crowd was called to order in the main exhibition hall and addressed by Misters Thomas C. Weeks, Herman Stump and J.T.C.

California has long been the unrivaled leader in outlandish retail concepts, such as 24-hour, drive-through nail salon-video stores. But a Baltimore stalwart just might put those combos to shame. Cafe Tattoo is a music club cum barbecue joint cum tattoo parlor. The music is hit-and-miss and we have no criteria for judging the tattoos, but the barbecue merits taking the drive out Belair Road.Technically, the tattoo parlor is upstairs from the dark, cavernous bar presided over by its chatty owner, Rick Catalano.

Who says barbecuing has to be routine? It's anything but, if you use a barbecue in the shape of a big pink pig.Manufactured by Traeger Products in Mount Angel, Ore., it's made of solid steel with a hard, heat-resistant coating that keeps its color when properly cared for. It's large enough to cook two 20-pound turkeys at the same time and works as a barbecue, convection oven or smoker, depending on how you set its high-tech controls.If used properly, it can cook without any emissions at all, and its safety features prevent flare-ups or explosions.

What is it about barbecue, so that even successful restaurateurs are drawn to opening their own barbecue joints? We saw it in Baltimore with Michael Marx and Rub in South Baltimore. An even more surprising example is Michael Tauraso and his new Black Hog BBQ & Bar (118 S. Market St., 240-436-6080) in Frederick. Tauraso is a name familiar to Baltimore foodies. In its day, Tauraso's, an Italian restaurant, was Frederick's premier fine-dining spot. After he sold it, Michael Tauraso went on to open - and also eventually sell - Luke's, an upscale pizzeria.

Boog Powell is coming back, not to pinch-hit for the Orioles at the age of 50 but to operate a barbecue stand at the new Oriole Park at Camden Yards."Boog's Corner," it'll be called. A portable stand almost directly behind the right-field bleachers, on Eutaw Plaza between the warehouse and the stadium, it will offer some of Powell's favorites, including pit beef,pork chop sandwiches, barbecued beans, cole slaw and, yes, Miller Lite beer.The big man himself will be on the scene to supervise.

This week's dining review in Live is of Midtown BBQ & Brew, the successor to Midtown Yacht Club. Erik Maza has the review here . Former owner Nathan Beveridge is back, and Anthony Harrison is in as managing parnter and chef. Harrison is a big barbecue guy and his barbecue is big. "The portions at Midtown are big," Erik says. "Even the half-rack of ribs is intimidating, and leaves plenty of leftovers. " About those ribs, they're not baby-back ribs. They're beef ribs, so no they may not fall of the bone, as the Constitution requires, but they have good, strong flavor that doesn't come from added-on sauce.

Santa Claus and two of his elves pedaled their bicycles across Fort Avenue and up Woodall Street, stopping beside an apartment across from the Domino Sugar Factory. With Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" blasting from a boombox — and a handful of curious neighbors looking on — the trio carefully unloaded their cargo: A six-and-a-half-foot Douglas fir and a pulled pork sandwich. Up the stairway they went. Christmas had officially arrived at Marilyn Agro's home.

Rub , Michael Marx's barbecue restaurant in Riverside, closed in July after a four-year run. Now its successor, Hersh's Pizza and Drinks , has opened. Owings Mills natives Josh and Stephanie Hershkovitz, brother and sister, are the new owners. Josh, formerly of Petit Louis , is the restaurant's chef. The new specialty is Neapolitan pizza, topped with things like fried eggplant, homemade sausage, and prosciutto and pistachio. Also on the opening menu are a few salads, pastas and fritti — anchovy-and-sage fritters and prosciutto balls inspired by the fry shops in Rome.

John Houser III reviews Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, a locally owned and operated restaurant that opened in September. The men behind Mission BBQ are Bill Kraus, a former Under Armour executive, and Steve Newton, a veteran of the Outback Steak House franchise. When Mission BBQ was opening, Kraus explained its two-part mission to me:  "First, we wanted to find the world's best barbecue and deliver it to our customers. " Honoring American service members, police and firefighters, Kraus says, is second part of his restaurant's mission.

This year, Howard Magazine asked a trio of distinguished guests to offer their personal favorites on the Howard County dining scene for 2011. Our guests include Howard Magazine dining columnist Donna Ellis, the Baltimore Sun 's food critic Richard Gorelick and the HowChow blogger (who prefers his anonymity and whose picks were assisted by his wife, “Mrs. HowChow.”). So, here's how they see it: BEST NEW RESTAURANT Donna Ellis: Drover's Grill and Maryland Wine Company in Mt. Airy.

Mission BBQ opened to the public on Sept. 19 in Glen Burnie. But hundreds of area firefighters, police officers and military personnel had already had a taste of the new restaurant's North Carolina pulled pork, St. Louis spare ribs and Texas-style whole link sausage. The owners of Mission BBQ, Bill Kraus and Steven Newton, ran a preview week of fundraisers for the Anne Arundel County fire and police departments as well as the Wounded Warrior Project, a national organization benefiting injured service personnel.

I WAS a man in distress. My sprayer wouldn't spray and a rack of ribs was sitting on the barbecue kettle cooker, begging for moisture. I pulled the trigger, trying to activate the nozzle and send a mist of soothing sauce from the hand-held spray bottle onto the meat. But nothing happened. In a panic, I loosened the top of the bottle and started pouring the contents of the bottle onto the meat. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. Later I figured that the honey in the sauce had gummed up the nozzle.

The flavor of pork barbecue, North Carolina style, brings much praise from those who responded to the request made by Bonnie R. Hull of Williamsport, who wrote, "This barbecue is not in a red or tomato-type sauce. It seems to be in its own juices with a slight sweet-sour flavor and served on a soft roll with slaw on top and absolutely delicious. In North Carolina, this is probably open-pit cooked and so could not be re-created exactly at home."Kay P. Bromley of Berlin sent in the recipe selected by our tester, Chef Gilles Syglowski.

More than 60 chefs arrived in Bel Air pulling trailers loaded with grills, seasonings, marinades, rubs, injectors, utensils and — of course — meat. Downtown Bel Air will be sizzling during the 10th annual Maryland BBQ Bash, the annual street festival and competition with $12,500 in prizes. The two-day event, which opens Friday, has attracted the four-time world champion griller, several chefs with the coveted "pitmaster" title and dozens of others, all determined to take the state title.

Walk into Kloby's Smokehouse, and the first thing you notice is the smell. The rich aroma of meat being smoked for barbecue hangs thick in the air. It's a hint of what lies ahead, and part of the reason why this popular Laurel restaurant recently had to expand. The barbecue here is good. Really good. Opened only two months ago, Kloby's new restaurant and bar is attached to the old bar and carryout. The orange-and-yellow walls are adorned with TVs and firefighter regalia (the owner was formerly a firefighter)