Brent and Kim Walton are the husband and wife pair whose QN4U BBQ team has won more barbecue contests than any other team in California. I recently had the chance to teach a BBQ class in Modesto with Brent. On my way home to So Cal, I stopped by their brand new restaurant in their home town of Clovis, on the outskirts of Fresno. As the dozens of trophies displayed throughout the room will attest, they know how to cook top tier barbecue.

Most barbecue restaurants can’t begin to cook at the level required at contests. I’m sorry to say this because the American public typically doesn’t have access to the really great stuff (some areas in the BBQ belt excepted). A handful of contest champions also own restaurants and actually work the line in their kitchens, demanding the same level of quality out of of their cooks as they personally execute in competition. Brent Walton is one of those picky few.

Their “BBQ house” has the wood slats, high raftered ceilings and down home charm of a drying barn that reminded me of the bar set from Road House, after the Swayze induced cleanup. I’m told that in the short time they’ve been open, the spacious room packs out and there’s a line out the door on weekends.

I ordered the brisket sandwich, and specified the “burnt ends” offered on the menu. Beef brisket is made up of two different muscles called the flat cut and the point cut. The point is the fattier more flavorful of the two, and is generally separated and put back in the smoker to cook until it’s crisp, its fat rendered out, and “burnt” so to speak. Most restaurants don’t offer the point separately, so whenever it’s offered, I jump on it.

The first taste of the cubed burnt ends revealed smoky beef cooked just long enough to crisp without getting dried out. A cooked-on light coating of QN4U’s sweet “Clovis style” sauce gave the meat enough of a finish to make additional sauce pointless.

What looks like a cup of mayo in that photo is a side serving of the mac and cheese. It started off promising, but ended in disappointment. Their white cheese sauce has a great sharp flavor of well aged cheddar, but it was only ladled on top of my serving. Were the sauce mixed throughout to coat all the noodles, it might also have warmed up the noodles at the bottom, which were still cold. I hope the cooks can work through the logistics of service to make the last bite of mac and cheese as delicious as the first.

My waitress recommended the mac and cheese as a replacement for the sweet potato fries I heard so much about from other friends that had eaten here. Ray Lampe told me that he usually dislikes sweet potatoes, but really liked QN4U’s crispy handcut version. Unfortunately, the lunch menu is different from dinner and sweet potato fries are not on it. I’d also heard about the pig candy (bacon coated with chili spiked brown sugar and smoked until crisp) also only available at dinner. Why, the inequity, Brent? Pig candy and sweet potato fries for lunch!

I ended this lunch with some of Kim’s bread pudding. Sweet, rich and flavored with raisins and peaches, there’s enough to share this portion among two or three people.

Although I make it a point to write restaurant reviews after I’ve had the chance to work through the menu on at least three occasions, honestly, Clovis is too far for me to get back there any time soon. Locals, though, have a great new option to fix the barbecue jones. Lucky, lucky locals.

For disclosure’s sake: I know both owners, but they were not in the restaurant during this visit and I ate anonymously. I said nothing to the staff to affect their usual service.

QN4U BBQ House
1414 Clovis Ave
Clovis, CA 93612
559 765 4078 telephone
Open 7 days a week from 11am to 10pm
There is no website yet, but photos of the lunch menu are on my Flickr archive.

I had the chance to teach grilled pizzas in front of the crowd at The Meet: Blues, Brews and BBQ contest this weekend. To share the stage with two renowned chefs like Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe and California champion Brent Walton of the QN4U teamis a great honor, and ton of fun. I had a great time all week hanging out with both of them.

Thanks to everyone who came out to watch the show. I’ll write a little bit more about this event after I’ve made it home, but wanted to get my pizza dough recipe posted for anyone who was interested.

Yield: 4 thin crust 9” pizzas

This formula is designed for a thin crust pizza, and should stretch thin without tearing. It contains a relatively high proportion of water, and is supposed to feel a little bit tacky to the touch.

It also contains a small amount of yeast. The formula is designed to be refrigerated overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you may increase the amount of yeast to 1 teaspoon, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1½ hours.

4.5 cups (20 oz by weight) all purpose flour
1.5 cups (12 oz by weight) warm water (70 – 90 degree F)
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoon (generous) olive oil
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (see note above about yeast)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow to proof for 5 minutes. If you don’t see the yeast bubble after 5 minutes, you may have stale yeast.Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl
Add olive oil into flour mixture, and combine with fingers
Add the water into the flour mixture all at once, and stir with a rubber spatula until the water is mostly absorbed. You may have spots of dry flour, that’s ok.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, to allow the flour to absorb the water.
Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes, until it’s evenly textured. It should be on the wet side, somewhat tacky but not overly sticky. If it’s too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it’s manageable.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces
Roll the dough into a smooth ball, pulling the skin of the dough tightly and pinching the seam that forms during the forming process.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled container, such as plastic wares, or even a zipper lock plastic bag.
Place in the fridge overnight to proof slowly. This dough is forgiving, and will allow up to 4 days of proofing without complaint. It also freezes well. Allow the dough to rise overnight prior to freezing, and use within 1 month.

I’m in Modesto, California this week for The Meet: Blues, Brews and Barbecue. It’s one of the biggest barbecue contests west of the Mississippi held in conjunction with a national caliber track meet. I’m sharing a stage with Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe and Brent Walton, one of the best competition BBQ cooks in the country who also lives in this area. We’re teaching a BBQ 101 class in front of 3000 or so people this Saturday, and my segment is about grilled pizzas.

As part of the buildup, we taped a couple of preview spots for Sacramento’s News10 morning show, Sacramento & Co. You can see me on today’s video clip here . Yesterday’s clip with Ray and Brent is here. Part of my mission was to pitch this class and get people interested in coming to learn how to grill a pizza.

How did that pizza look on the grill? Bet you didn’t realize it wasn’t baked. I was asked to have a pizza made before the spot because I only had about 60 seconds for my bit. That’s not enough time to bake pizza live for the camera. If making a cold pizza look delicious weren’t hard enough, we also didn’t have that grill fired up, either. We didn’t want spend all morning firing up the charcoal and waiting for the grill to cool down after the taping. So what to do? I put the flame spreader tip on my propane torch and “baked” the pesto and chicken sausage pizza. How’d I do?